Asadollah Asgaroladi

Asadollah Asgaroladi (Persian: اسدالله عسگراولادی‎; 3 March 1934 – 13 September 2019) was an Iranian business magnate, with business interests in exports, banking, real estate and healthcare.[1]

Asadollah Asgaroladi
Born(1934-03-06)March 6, 1934
Tehran, Iran
DiedSeptember 13, 2019(2019-09-13) (aged 85)
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian
OccupationBusinessman
Political partyIslamic Coalition Party
Children5
RelativesHabibollah Asgaroladi (brother)

Life

Asgaroladi was born to a merchant family. His ancestors converted from Judaism to Shia Islam.[2][3][4][5][6] Asgaroladi was amongst the world's wealthiest Iranians, and was named the third richest Iranian in the world and was the second wealthiest in Iran, with an estimated wealth in excess of $10 billion.[7] His business empire dates back to the 1970s and, since then, Asgaroladi became one of the leading exporters of dried fruits, nuts and spices from Iran. Asgaroladi was the president of Hasas Co. which is the leading exporter of nuts and pistachios from Iran since 1953.[8]

Asgaroladi increased his wealth dramatically in the 90's when there were two official exchange rates for the US dollar. Those with trade license could obtain the lower exchange rate of 1750 rials but the market value of US dollars was at 8000 rials. During this period his brother Habibollah Asgaroladi was the commerce minister responsible for handing out trade licenses to obtain the lower exchange rate. He used his connections to obtain large quantities of US dollars at low exchange rate and resold them at the market value price for a profit of more than 300%.[9]

Asgaroladi was a well known member of the Iranian business community (his brother was Minister of Commerce for many years) and he held the Presidency of several international Chambers of Commerce including the Iran-China, Iran-Australia, Iran-Russia[10] and Iran-Canada Chambers of Commerce.

Asgaroladi was reported as being in negotiations to purchase Iran Air / "Homa", Iran's heavily national carrier and was quoted in media sources as wishing to acquire the Tehran International Trade and Exhibition Centre, a vast conference and exhibition centre in northern Tehran. He also owned a majority stake in three retail Chinese banks. Asgaroladi on numerous occasions proposed setting up an Iran-China bank.[11]

According to Forbes Magazine, Asgaroladi was the secret business partner of Swiss-based US-i billionaire and fugitive Marc Rich in helping bypass U.S. sanctions against Iran after the Iranian revolution.[3]

On 13 September 2019, Asgaroladi died because of a brain injury.[12]

References
  1. "Who is Asadollah Asgaroladi?". Trevor Loudon's New Zeal Blog. 2007-08-08. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
  2. "Sad Fate of Iran's Jews". Institute for War and Peace Reporting. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  3. Klebnikov, Paul. "Millionaire Mullahs". Forbes. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  4. "מנהיגים ואנשי שם ממוצא איראני". www.kosherdelight.com. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  5. "An Insider's View: Iran Ready to Do Business with the West". FRONTLINE - Tehran Bureau. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  6. "Notable Jews of Persia & the Arabian Peninsula genealogy project". geni_family_tree. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  7. "Asadollah Asgar-Oladi Criticizes Government's Economic Policies". Pars Herald. 28 April 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  8. "Hassas Export Company". www.hasasco.com. Retrieved 4 January 2018.
  9. Saints and Sinners, Ali Mahmood, 2013, HarperCollins Publishers India, page 205.
  10. "Caspian Chambers of Commerce Meet | Business | The Moscow Times". Service.themoscowtimes.com. 2011-05-30. Archived from the original on 2011-08-27. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  11. "Iran, China to form joint oil, gas committee". Payvand.com. Retrieved 2012-01-29.
  12. Former chairman of Iran-China Joint Chamber of Commerce passes away
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