Mohammed Makhlouf ( ar, محمد مخلوف; October 19, 1932September12, 2020) was a Syrian businessman and the uncle of President

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

Career

Mohammed was the brother of

Anisa Makhlouf Anisa (or Aniseh) Makhlouf ( ar, أَنِيسَةُ مَخْلُوفٍ, ʾAnīsah Maḵlūf, 5 November 1930 – 6 February 2016)Hafez al-Assad Hafez al-Assad ', , (, 6 October 1930 – 10 June 2000) was a Syrian statesman and military officer who served as President of Syria from taking power in 1971 until his death in 2000. He was also Prime Minister of Syria from 1970 to 1 ...

in 1957. He initially worked for Syrian Air. Since his son-in-law became president, he made a fortune both by managing government companies and in the private sector, including becoming general manager of the state-owned tobacco company as well as charging foreign companies a 10% commission on imported tobacco. In 1985, he became director of the Real Estate Bank of Syria (REB). He also became a partner in the "Al Furat Petroleum" company, whose shares were distributed among the

Syrian government Government of the Syrian Arab Republic is the union government created by the constitution of Syria where by the president is the head of state and the prime minister is the head of government. Executive power is exercised by the government. Syr ...

(65%), and the rest was owned by foreign companies, including

Shell plc Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yo ...

. His company obtained services related to oil fields from the Lead Contracting & Trading Company, which was owned by his son-in-law, Ghassan Muhanna. When

became president, his son Rami inherited his business empire. In August 2011, he became subject to

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

sanctions, including travel bans and asset freezes, among individuals with close ties to the Syrian regime during the Syrian Civil War. He later appealed to the

European General Court The General Court, informally known as the European General Court (EGC), is a constituent court of the Court of Justice of the European Union. It hears actions taken against the institutions of the European Union by individuals and member stat ...

(EGC), claiming that the sanctions had violated his privacy and affected his standard of living, but the Council rejected his appeal. In 2015, a leaked document from his

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

bank account revealed that he had registered as an agent for Philip Morris, which owns the

Marlboro Marlboro (, ) is an American brand of cigarettes, currently owned and manufactured by Philip Morris USA (a branch of Altria) within the United States and by Philip Morris International (now separate from Altria) outside the US. The largest Marl ...

brand, and as an exclusive agent for

Mitsubishi Motors is a Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan.Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. Originally marketed as a temperance drink and intended as a patent medicine, it was invented in the late 19th century by John Stith Pemberton in Atlanta ...

Personal life

Makhlouf was married twice. He had seven children with his first wife, Ghada Adeeb Muhanna, including: Rami, Hafez, Iyad, Ihab, Shala, Kinda, and Sarah. Then, he married Hala Tarif Al-Maghout during his stay in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and had one son, Ahmed. On September 12, 2020, he died at

Al Assad University Hospital Al Assad University Hospital ( ar, مستشفى الأسد الجامعي) in Damascus is one of the largest teaching hospitals in Syria. It was founded in 1988 and is run by the Ministry of Higher Education. The hospital is affiliated with Damascu ...

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

, due to complications from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

References

{{reflist 1932 births 2020 deaths 20th-century Syrian businesspeople 21st-century Syrian businesspeople Assad family Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Syria People from Latakia Governorate People of the Syrian civil war Sanctioned due to Syrian civil war Syrian individuals subject to the European Union sanctions Syrian individuals subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions