Mubarak’s net worth estimated at $40-70 bn

CAIRO - The net worth of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who is under pressure to quit following a massive mass movement, and his family is estimated to between $40 billion to $70 billion, a media report said.

ABC News quoted experts as saying that the Mubarak family wealth was built largely from military contracts during his days as an air force officer.

Hosni Mubarak, a former air chief who was sworn in president in 1981 and has ruled the country for nearly 30 years, is facing a political upheaval that has turned violent, leaving eight people dead.

The media report said that Mubarak diversified his investments through his family when he became president and the family’s net worth ranges from $40 billion to $70 billion, by some estimates.

Amaney Jamal, a professor at Princeton, said: “The business ventures from his military and government service accumulated to his personal wealth.”

“There was a lot of corruption in this regime and stifling of public resources for personal gain,” she was quoted as saying.

The professor said that Mubarak’s assets are probably in banks outside Egypt, possibly in Britain and Switzerland.

“This is the pattern of other Middle Eastern dictators so their wealth will not be taken during a transition…These leaders plan on this.”

Aladdin Elaasar, an author, said the Mubarak family owns several homes in Egypt.

“He had a very lavish lifestyle with many homes around the country,” Elaasar was quoted as saying.

According to his estimate, the family’s wealth is between $50 billion to $70 billion.

A report said that the Mubarak family owns properties in London, Paris, Madrid, Dubai, Washington, New York and Frankfurt.

Robert Springborg, a Middle East scholar, said the family is very wealthy, but they have not been extremely overt with their wealth.

“One of the sons has a nice apartment in Cairo but nothing hugely lavish,” Springborg was quoted as saying.

“There are many other people in Egypt who live a more lavish lifestyle than them.”