The picture of Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan's former president, fleeing Kabul in a helicopter following the Taliban takeover of the country remains fresh in the minds of many observers. Ghani stuffed the chopper with money but had to leave some behind as all of it could not be taken with him due to lack of space, Russian media reports said in August.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime seems to be tumbling as Islamic rebel fighters reached Damascus after a violent push. The whereabouts of Bashar al-Assad, who took over Syria's Presidency from his father Hafez al-Assad, remains unknown as many suspect he fled to the safety of Tehran.
The Assads, who have ruled Syria for over half a century, stand no chance against the rival groups without their allies Russia and Iran. The army has scattered and many local allies are considering switching sides for their own good. As the once-powerful Syrian regime seems to have reached the end of the road, the focus has shifted to the financial details of Bashar al-Assad and his family. If the Syrian President is forced to flee the country with a vehicle full of money like Ghani, how much can he take? Or, to be put in plain terms, how rich is Bashar al-Assad?
Needless to say, Syria's single most powerful family is a Godfather to the country's largest economic players and crime syndicate alike. These networks penetrate all sectors of the Syrian economy and effectively fund large sums of money for the government.
Bashar al-Assad's net worth
According to the Saudi newspaper Elav, which cited inputs from British intelligence service MI6, the Assad family's fortunes amount to 200 tons of gold, 16 billion dollars, and 5 billion euros. The sum is equivalent to Syria’s entire budget for 7 years when compared to data as of 2023, the report claimed. However, there was no way to cross-check this claim.
The closest to an accurate account of Bashar al-Assad's wealth is a 2022 report by the US Department of State. The report estimated the finances of Bashar Assad and his wife Asma Akhras Assad, his brother Maher Assad, sister Bushra Assad, cousins and uncles amongst others. The report begins with the confession that the calculations were largely based on open-source information and they had no idea about the finances of Bashar's three children Hafez, Zayn and Karim -- all adults in 2024.
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The Assad family's net worth is believed to be somewhere between $1-2 billion, an estimate which the US Department of State couldn't "independently corroborate." The Assads are directly or indirectly involved in almost all large-scale economic operations in the country. Tabulating their net worth is almost impossible for a party from the outside as they have assets concealed in numerous accounts, real estate portfolios, corporations, and offshore tax havens. To avoid detection and avoid sanctions, they use dummies and false names, apart from running shell companies.
Legal and illegal sources of income while the country starves?
The Assads engage in criminal activities including smuggling, arms trading, drug trafficking, and protection and extortion rackets. The huge sums of money earned through these illict dealings are laundered through seemingly legitimate corporate structures and non-profit entities that they run in the country. "...the Assad family runs a complex patronage system including shell companies and corporate facades that serves as a tool for the regime to access financial resources," the report said.
READ THE US DEPARTMENT OF STATE'S STORY IN FULL HERE
Also in the mix of things is the Shalish family -- the paternal cousins of Bashar Assad. Dhu al-Himma Shalish (aka Zuhayr Shalish) and Riad Shalish have a net worth of over $1 billion, stemming from both their business interests. They are also involved in many shady activities while in charge of a large Syrian conglomerate with interests in the construction and automobile import sectors.
Rami Makhlouf, one of Syria’s richest and most powerful men, is also part of the Assam family tree. Rami is the son of Bashar's maternal uncle and is said to have controlled a large share of the Syrian economy. After he had a conflict with the President in 2020, many of his business interests into state receivership. This means, a fair share of his financial assets estimated to be around $5-10 billion when to Assad's kitty.
