Top 5 Richest Politicians
5. Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan: $15bn
Sheikh Khalifa, the current president of the UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi is part of the Al Nahyan family whose fortune is estimated to exceed $150bn. Since he ascended to the throne following his father’s death in 2004 he has generally been seen as a positive influence in the region; he increased the wages of government employees by 100%, and has introduced an element of democracy into the election process of the Federal National Council.
4. Abdullah Bin Abdul Aziz: $18bn
Abdullah is the sixth King of Saudi Arabia, meaning that he controls almost a fifth of the world’s oil supply. The 89 year-old ascended to the throne in 2005 following a life of politics which started with the mayoral position of the holy city of Mecca at the beginning of the sixties. Abdullah managed to successfully steer his kingdom through the global recession, and the country is projecting a 4% growth in 2014.
3. Hassanal Bolkiah: $20bn
Hassanal Bolkiah is the current Sultan and Prime Minister of Brunei, and has acquired a personal fortune of over $20bn since his ascension to the throne in 1967. The Sultan has been running the country with full emergency power since the beginning of his reign, and in 2006 announced that the country’s constitution had been amended to make him infallible. Fun fact: his full name is Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien.
2. Michael Bloomberg: $31bn
He was mayor of NYC for 12 years until last year. He is still active in polictics so he qualifies. Bloomberg spent fortunes on his political campaigns to become and remain mayor. He was even caught having hired an ENTIRE audience for one of his rallies. But hey, he is one of the richest people in the world so who can really blame him?
1. Vladimir Putin: $75bn
In 1999 Putin first became Prime Minister, but switched to President in 2000, a position in which he remained until 2008, at which point he resumed the title of Prime Minister. His career path is shady enough to make even the most ruthless dictators blush, with a KGB background, domestic suppression, and a recent annexation of part of the Ukraine.
To his credit, during his rule the average Russian income has increased 2.5 fold, and the country’s economy has been growing for eight straight years! And so has his wallet…
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