An international agency has audited financial statements of Iran's spiritual leader and found out who is the richest man in the world now. Having studied only those financial papers that were freely available, the experts revealed the full financial perfomance of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Assets owned by Ali Khamenei were estimated at $95 billion. It all started back in 1989, when his predecessor Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini created a charitable foundation Setad Ejraiye. The organization became a new entity to manage and sell properties abandoned in the chaotic years after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. The cash from these deals was directed to the poor and the war veterans. After 25 years, Setad Ejraiye turned into the world's largest financial empire controled by Ali Khamenei. It holds stakes in nearly every sector of Iranian industry – from oil production to ostrich farming. The investigation showed that all the legal assets of the organization are worth $95 billion. $52 billion of them is a cost of property, which was resold in contravention of the secular laws. The other $43 billion is large portfolio investments in hundreds of companies all over the world. The religious charitable foundation follows its own rules not submitting to the government and parliament. Virtually, Ali Khamenei owns the fund. In comparison, according to Forbes Magazine, the fortune of Carlos Slim, the richest person in the world, is $73 billion, which is $22 billion less than the wealth of Ali Khamenei.
