The Missing Billionaires of Bangladesh
Uncovering the Silent Elite: How Wealth, Power, and Media Collude to Keep Bangladesh’s Billionaires in the Shadows
Bangladesh has undergone a real transformation in recent times — its economy has grown, cities have expanded, and middle-class life has evolved. But one thing that remains stubbornly unchanged is how the billionaire class continues to hide their wealth.
Just before the Hasina-led government fell, a few things became glaringly obvious. Inflation had spiked, triggering a severe cost-of-living crisis. At the same time, media outlets — not the national ones, but international sources — were suddenly full of corruption and scandal stories. We heard about a low-level official in the Prime Minister’s Office allegedly embezzling 400 crore taka (that’s 4 billion in cash). After the government’s ousting, more shocking details emerged — one individual reportedly owned 350 homes in Central London, while another was said to have siphoned off at least 10 billion taka to Singapore.
Before diving further into this, I want to point to a contrast. Nepal — a country with an economy nearly ten times smaller than Bangladesh’s — has a celebrated self-made billionaire: the founder of YY Noodles. He’s widely recognized and admired in Nepal. I’m not sure how much of his wealth is stashed away domestically or abroad, but at least there is transparency, to some degree. In 2018, when I tried looking up a list of billionaires in Bangladesh, I was surprised to find none officially listed.
Yet, when I opened my own business in Bangladesh, I wasn’t just exempt from paying taxes — I was actually incentivized by the government. Since I worked with foreign companies, I received a 2.5% bonus on inward remittances. It was part of a strategy to promote IT professionals and exports. That made me wonder: if businesses here can accumulate serious wealth under such tax-friendly conditions, where did all the billionaires go?
There’s the GINI coefficient, which measures income inequality — the lower the score, the more equal a society is. Bangladesh once had a relatively low GINI score. But in just the past ten years, inequality has increased drastically. That means wealth concentration is growing, but the question remains — where are the billionaires?
Companies like Square, Incepta, and several large pharmaceutical firms are certainly worth billions. Their owners are very likely billionaires or at least near-billionaires — with net worths approaching or exceeding one billion dollars. At one point, Forbes listed Salman F Rahman as a billionaire, but he publicly denied it. It was almost comical, and it left me thinking: are all the billionaires in hiding?
We know that some, like the owner of Summit Group, have moved abroad to Singapore. Others might have done the same, tying their wealth to foreign markets and leaving behind little trace. But even then, many companies in Bangladesh rival or surpass Summit in scale. These companies have thousands of shares listed on the stock exchange. So why don’t we hear about their valuations? Why aren’t they in the headlines?
One possible answer is the media itself. Many major media houses are owned by the same corporate groups that likely harbor billionaires. Sheikhder Group owns Bangladesh Post, Transcom owns The Daily Star and Prothom Alo, Orion owns The Business Standard, while The Independent and Independent TV were owned by Beximco — Salman F Rahman’s company. The Daily Sun and Samakal are under Bashundhara Group. When media is owned by wealth, how can it report on wealth?
There is undoubtedly public interest in knowing who the largest companies are, who runs them, and how they built their fortunes. People care about transparency, especially when it comes to entities that shape the economy and society. But we are left with silence — an absence in our public discourse.
The reason we don’t see billionaires in Bangladesh isn’t because they don’t exist — it’s because they’re hidden. Many have gained their wealth not just through business innovation, but through political connections, corruption, and an almost complete absence of tax accountability.
Their invisibility isn’t accidental. It’s strategic.
By hiding their wealth, they avoid scrutiny, taxes, and responsibility. And when the media is part of that same elite ecosystem, the silence becomes systemic.
Bangladesh doesn’t just need to ask “where are our billionaires?” — it needs to demand answers about how they got there, and what they owe to the country that made them rich.
