Issad Rebrab
Issad Rebrab (Arabic: يسعد ربراب;[2][3] born 1944), is an Algerian billionaire businessman, CEO of the Cevital industrial group, the largest private company in Algeria, active in steel, food, agribusiness and electronics.
Issad Rebrab | |
---|---|
Born | Tagumount-Azzouz village, Tizi Ouzou | May 27, 1944
Nationality | Algerian |
Occupation | Businessman |
Known for | CEO of Cevital |
Net worth | US$4.8 billion (January 2021)[1] |
Children | 5 |
Website | www.cevital.com |
Early life
After graduating from a professional school, Rebrab taught accounting and commercial law. He soon left teaching, and started his own accounting firm.
Career
His industrial career started in 1971, when one of his clients proposed he take shares in a metallurgical construction company. He took 20% of the shares in Sotecom. After that, he created other companies in the steel industry: Profilor in 1975 and Metal Sider in 1988.
In 1995, his main installations were destroyed in a terrorist attack. After he recognized the risks of staying, Rebrab decided to leave Algeria. He came back in 1998 with Cevital, the biggest group in agricultural business, which later became the largest private Algerian company. Cevital owns one of the largest sugar refineries in the world, with the capacity to produce 2 million tons a year.[4]
In 2016, Rebrab acquired El Khabar media group, for $45 million. This was his second investment into media, as he already owns the French-Algerian daily paper Liberte.[5]
On April 22, 2019, Rebrab was incarcerated at the prison of El Harrach on the public prosecutor's orders, after his arrest as part of a corruption probe.[6] He was released on January 1, 2020, after having been sentenced to six months for tax, banking and customs offenses, and having been in custody for longer than his eventual sentence.[7]
Personal life
Rebrab is married, with five children.[1]
References
- "Forbes profile: Issad Rebrab". Forbes. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
- "احتجاجات الجزائر: من هو الملياردير يسعد ربراب الذي اعتقل؟". BBC News عربي (in Arabic). 24 Apr 2019.
- "إطلاق سراح رجل الأعمال الجزائري يسعد ربراب رغم إدانته". France 24 (in Arabic). 1 Jan 2020.
- Nsehe, Mfonobong. "Algeria's Richest Man Issad Rebrab to Construct $150 Million Sugar Refinery in Sri Lanka". Forbes. Retrieved 31 May 2017.
- Nsehe, Mfonobong. "Algeria's Richest Man Issad Rebrab Acquires Newspaper Publisher". Forbes.
- "Algeria's richest man held in corruption probe". France24. Retrieved 12 June 2019.
- "Algeria's richest man walks free on time served". Rappler. 1 January 2020. Retrieved 1 January 2020.