Born as Muammar Muhammad Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi, on September 1, 1969, Muammar Gaddafi became the de facto leader of Libya following heading a group of young Libyan Army officers against King Idris I in a bloodless coup d’état.
After the king had escaped the country, the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) led by Gaddafi nullified the empire and the old constitution and set up the Libyan Arab Republic, with the motto “freedom, socialism and unity”.
In this article, we will cover Muammar Gaddafi’s net worth and Libya’s rise under his reign.
Muammar Gaddafi’s Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, at a certain point in Muammar Gaddafi’s life, his net worth was estimated at $70 billion which would have made him one of the world’s richest men.
Muammar Gaddafi ruled Libya for the longest time since the Ottoman Empire, and he was also the longest non-royal ruler still living at the time of his demise.
During his monarchy of 42 years, he has been involved in a lot of controversies and internal unrest. As of February 2011, political unrest within the country spilled over into high-level violence, majorly carried out by the military against civilian protesters.
Rebel forces pushed Gaddafi out of office and onto the run. He was encouraged by both the U.S. government and NATO to pimp himself on and free his country from persistent violence. On 20 October 2011, following many months on the run, rebel forces captured Muammar Gaddafi and killed him.
Early Life
Muammar Gaddafi was born in 1942 in Qasr Abu Hadi, Sirte, Italian Libya into a poor Bedouin family. While attending school in Sabha, he became an Arab nationalist and later joined the Royal Military Academy in Benghazi.
When he was in the military, Gaddafi set up his own revolutionary group, a group that ousted the former Western-supported Senussi ruling of Idris, which finished in a takeover that happened in 1969.
Education/Politics
Muammar Gaddafi had a basic education that was religious in nature and given by local Islamic educators.
He was a creative scholar, advancing through 6 grades within only 4 years. During his school years, he faced bullies and was often picked on because of his Bedouin descent.
Though he took a lot of pride in his heritage and was adamant in his beliefs, encouraging honor in other Bedouin learners/kids. He was early friends with Abdessalam Jalloud, who was the Prime Minister of Libya from the period 1972 to 1977.
1969 Coup
In the mid-1969, The Rule of Idris became endangered since Idris traveled overseas. Gaddafi and his Free Officers identified this as the best chance to oust this reign, which provoked “Operation Jerusalem”.
Following the overthrow of the monarchical government, Gaddafi declared the establishment of a new Libyan Arab Republic.
Economic Reform Efforts
During the time, the primary export of his country was crude oil and Gaddafi was looking for mediums to further boost and enhance Libya’s rich oil sector.
The efforts made by Gaddafi resulted in an increase in crude oil prices across the world and measures he in person put in place brought Libya $1 billion in anticipated other oil revenues, only within the first year.
Foreign Relations
Gaddafi was outspoken and particularly critical about the US backing of Israel. He teamed up with Palestinians in Israeli–Palestinian battles and challenged the 1948 development of the State of Israel, sighting this himself as a Western colonial occupation influence that was imposed on the larger Arab world.
Gaddafi thought that Palestinian violence that took place against Israeli and Western targets was rightful and the retort of an extremely oppressed people bouting against colonization of the people’s holy land.
US Conflicts
There was an extremely increasing sense of economic issues taking place in Libya during the early-to-mid 1980s. The annual oil revenues of the country had fallen from $21 billion to $5.4 billion, and Gaddafi was committed to focusing on irrigation projects that would offset this intense adverse impact.
Libya started its largest as well as most costly infrastructure project in 1983, the Great Man-Made River, which dropped behind the plan and was still not completed up to the beginning of the 21st century.
The then President of the US, Ronald Reagan, incorporated a hardline approach during the early 80s when it came to Libya and said it to be a puppet control of the Soviet Union, making use of American terror of communism.
In response, Gaddafi broke his own relationship with the Soviet Union and also warned to join the Warsaw Pact. Soviets still were apprehensive of Gaddafi, many viewing him as an unforeseeable revolutionary that being in alliance with was nasty at best.
In the Spring of 1986, the US Navy executed exercises and demonstrations situated in the Gulf of Sirte. The act was met by the Libyan military with revenge and the US retorted by immersing many Libyan ships as a consequence.
Gaddafi’s Link to Africa
When the 20th century ended, Gaddafi had become extremely annoyed with what he sighted as the washouts of pan-Arab ideals. He was starting to dismiss his Arab nationalistic ideals and became more in support of pan-Africanism, which outlined and celebrated Libya’s African persona.
In June 1999, Gaddafi went on to visit Nelson Mandela in South Africa. The next month he went to the OAU summit which took place in Algiers, where he asked for intense political and economic incorporation, further championing and supporting the founding of a United States of Africa.
At the time, Gaddafi would be one of the founding members of the African Union (AU), which was founded in July 2002, swapping the OAU.
Death
There were immense protests during the 2011 Arab Spring that took place against what was said to be extensive corruption, not to state the truth that extreme unemployment was becoming uncontrolled over eastern Libya.
As a consequence, the Civil war emerged. NATO found it best to interpose militarily, teaming up with the anti-Gaddafist NTC (National Transitional Council). The government in power was ousted as a consequence. Gaddafi fell back to Sirte in response, where the NTC militants caught him and later executed him.
Wealth
Now, the evidence points to Gaddafi having a massive concealed fortune of assets in bank accounts, real estate, and investments across the globe. Gaddafi’s personal control of Libya’s huge oil fields is said to be the major contributor to his wealth. It is feasible that, at the time of his demise, Gaddafi was worth as much as $200 billion which would have made him the world’s richest man.
Increase in Per Capita Income of Libya
Following Gaddafi came to power, the RCC government started a procedure of using funds for providing health care, education, and housing for everyone. In the country, public education was made cost-free and primary education became mandatory for both genders.
Further, health care was made available to the public for free, but giving housing to everyone became a task that the RCC government could not complete. Under Gaddafi, per capita income in Libya was increased to over US$11,000, the fifth-highest in Africa. The rise in abundance was led by a controversial foreign policy, and there was also a rise in domestic political control.
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