What is Ilham Aliyev’s net worth?
Ilham Aliyev is an Azerbaijani politician who has a net worth of $900 million. Ilham Aliyev is the president of Azerbaijan.
Ilham Aliyev earned a doctorate in history from the Moscow State University of International Relations and later became vice-president of the Azerbaijan State Oil Company in 1994. Aliyev was subsequently elected to the National Assembly of Azerbaijan, became president of the National Olympic Committee, and was appointed head of the Azerbaijan delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. He was elected prime minister in August 2003 and, in 2005, became leader of the New Azerbaijan Party. Ilham is considered by many to be a dictator and has presided over a government without free and fair elections. His government is known for corruption, human rights violations, the prosecution of journalists, and the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno-Karabakh’s Armenian population.
Pandora Papers and revelations about offshore wealth
In 2021, the Pandora Papers leak shed new light on the scale and structure of the Aliyev family’s global wealth. The massive document dump, which exposed the offshore holdings of political leaders and elites around the world, revealed that Ilham Aliyev’s children were shareholders in at least 44 companies registered in the British Virgin Islands.
According to reports linked to the leak, five of those offshore companies were used to purchase approximately $120 million in high-end properties in London between 2006 and 2009. Separate reports related to the earlier Panama Papers investigation estimated that Azerbaijan’s ruling family controlled more than $500 million in real estate in London alone.
The family’s overseas holdings were not limited to the United Kingdom. Aliyev’s children have also reportedly amassed luxury properties worth approximately $75 million in Dubai. These acquisitions have fueled long-standing accusations that the country’s oil wealth has been channeled through a complex network of offshore entities controlled by family members.
One of the most controversial revelations involved a 2018 transaction with the British Crown Estate. An eight-story retail and office building in London’s Mayfair district has been sold to the Crown Estate for $91 million. The property had reportedly been acquired in 2009 for $48 million through a company linked to Aliyev’s daughter Arzu, generating an estimated $42 million profit upon resale.
The Pandora Papers revelations intensified international scrutiny of the Aliyev family’s finances and reinforced claims by anti-corruption groups that much of their wealth has been structured through opaque offshore vehicles. Before the leak, estimates of Ilham Aliyev’s personal fortune were around $500 million. The scale of the family’s overall property portfolio has led some observers to suggest that overall family wealth could be significantly higher.
Salary and family wealth
Ilham Aliyev’s official presidential salary is only $230,000 a year, but thanks to his tight control over Azerbaijan’s oil resources, his family has prospered enormously. Ilham’s son reportedly owns nine luxury mansions in Dubai worth $45 million. His daughters reportedly own real estate in Dubai worth an additional $30 million. Under Azerbaijani law, public officials cannot own private companies, but that law does not apply to their children or spouses. Ilham’s daughter Arzu, a television personality and model, reportedly owns millions of dollars in company shares and other assets, including Silk Way Bank and SW Holding. SW Holding owns dozens of companies, including the state airline and the official state contractor.
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Early life and political rise
Ilham Aliyev was born Ilham Heydar oghlu Aliyev on December 24, 1961 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, Soviet Union. His father, Heydar Aliyev, was president of Azerbaijan from 1993 to 2003, and his mother, Zarifa Aliyeva, worked as an ophthalmologist. Ilham has an older sister named Sevil. Aliyev graduated from the Moscow State University of International Relations, where he earned his master’s degree and then completed his doctorate in history in 1985. He was a professor at his alma mater from 1985 to 1990, and was a director of several private commercial and industrial companies from 1991 to 1994. Ilham became vice-president of the Azerbaijan State Oil Company in 1994, and was later promoted to first vice-president. Since 1997 he has been president of the National Olympic Committee of Azerbaijan.
Political career
In 1999, Aliyev was elected vice-president of the New Azerbaijan Party, and two years later he was elected the party’s first vice-president. In 2005 he was elected president of the New Azerbaijan Party. Ilham was elected to the Parliament of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1995 and from 2001 to 2003 he headed the Azerbaijani delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. In August 2003, Aliyev was named Prime Minister of Azerbaijan as his father’s health worsened, making him next in line for the presidency if Heydar died in office. Shortly before the Azerbaijan presidential election, Heydar withdrew his candidacy and nominated Ilham as the candidate of the New Azerbaijan Party. Aliyez won the election, but it was widely considered fraudulent. Human Rights Watch reported that Azerbaijani authorities rallied behind Ilham’s candidacy and waged “a campaign of bureaucratic interference and political intimidation against the opposition, making a free and fair pre-election campaign environment impossible.” Despite this, Aliyev took office on October 31, 2003. In 2004, he created the Foundation for Fighting Corruption in Azerbaijan, and the following year, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was completed, allowing Azerbaijan to export oil to the United States, Europe, and other international markets. The 2005 parliamentary elections were marred by accusations of fraud and led to protests that government security forces quickly repressed.
In 2008, Aliyez was re-elected with 87% of the vote, and in March 2009, his administration introduced a constitutional referendum that removed presidential term limits. Ilham was re-elected with 85% of the vote in the 2013 presidential election and with 86% of the vote in the 2018 presidential election. The main opposition parties did not participate in the 2018 election and it was considered fraudulent. During his presidency, Aliyev has presided over two conflicts involving the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. In 2020, the Second Nagorno-Karabakh War took place, resulting in a ceasefire agreement that allowed Azerbaijani forces to control significant parts of Nagorno-Karabakh that had previously been controlled by the Republic of Armenia. In 2023, another offensive occurred which caused all of Nagorno-Karabakh to come under Azerbaijan’s control.
personal life
Ilham married Mehriban Aliyeva on January 22, 1983 and together they welcomed their daughters Arzu and Leyla Aliyeva and their son Heydar. Mehriban is the inaugural vice president of Azerbaijan. Aliyev is fluent in Azerbaijani, French, Turkish, English and Russian.
Honors
Aliyev has been awarded the Heydar Aliyev Order and the Order of Sheikhulislam of Azerbaijan. He has earned many foreign honors, including the Order of the Star of Romania, the Order of Honor of Georgia, the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland, the Order of the Republic of Serbia, the Order of Abdulaziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia, the Order of Stara Planina of Bulgaria, the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor of France, the First Class of the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise of Ukraine, the Order of Mubarak the Great of Kuwait, and the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Three from Latvia. Stars. Ilham has received honorary doctorates from colleges and universities such as Moscow State University of International Relations, Kirikkale University of Turkey, University of Jordan, and Belarus State University.
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