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Woman in sunglasses holding money. Photo by Vanessa Murrieta.

8 Most Wealthy People from Maldives

The Maldives is a tropical country in the Indian Ocean made up of 26 ring-shaped atolls and over 1,000 coral islands. It’s famous for its beaches, blue lagoons, and vast reefs. Malé’s capital, Majeedhee Magu, has a bustling fish market, restaurants and shops on the main road, and the 17th-century Hukuru Miskiy (also known as Friday Mosque) made of carved white coral.

With a population of 100,000 people in the early 1970s, the Maldives was one of the world’s 20 poorest countries. The economy was largely dependent on fisheries and the trade of local goods such as coir rope, ambergris (Maavaharu), and coco de mer (Tavakkaashi) with neighboring and East Asian countries at the time.

In the 1980s, the Maldivian government launched a largely successful economic reform program, beginning with the removal of import quotas and increased opportunities for the private sector. At the time, the tourism industry, which would play an important role in the nation’s development, was in its infancy and has thus given birth to a couple of billionaires.

1. Buruma Qasim

Qasim Ibrahim, also known as Buruma Qasim, is a Maldivian politician, business magnate, and philanthropist. He is one of the country’s wealthiest businessmen as the chairman and founder of the Villa Group. In the presidential elections of 2013, Ibrahim ran for the Jumhooree Party, but was defeated in the first round.

In 1976, he established his own profitable trading business in commodities such as rice, tobacco, diesel, and kerosene. The company experienced rapid expansion. He later expanded his business with a US$2,000 loan from State Bank of India (SBI), which remains his primary banker.

To facilitate oil imports, Ibrahim was able to purchase his first shipping vessel, an old fishing boat converted to carry cargo and oil. Ibrahim’s company was registered as Villa Shipping and Trading Company Limited on April 14, 1986. (Villa).

Since then, the company has expanded its operations, gaining a significant market share in a variety of Maldivian industries such as tourism, transportation, construction, manufacturing, gas, the cement trade, media/communication, and general trading as the sole Maldivian distributor of international products. Among the brands represented by Villa in the Maldives are Shell and Agfa.

2. Maumoon Abdul Gayoom

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, President of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008. Photo by

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom is a well-known World Leader who was born in the Maldives on December 29, 1937. This politician was the third President of the Maldives from 1978 to 2008 as a member of the Dhivehi Rayyithunge Party. After leaving office, he switched his political allegiance to the Maldives’ Progressive Party. 

Maumoon Abdul Gayoom’s net worth is around $9.1 billion.

3. Ilyas Ibrahim

Ilyas Ibrahim is the brother-in-law of former Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayyoom. He served as an MP for the capital city of Malé from 1980 to 1995 and was a minister in Maumoon’s cabinet for a long time. From 2003 to 2008, he was also the MP for Laamu Atoll and a member of the People’s Special Majilis.

He was also the Maldives’ Minister of State for Defence, Minister of Home Affairs, and CEO of the Maldives’ State Trading Organization (STO) and Airports Company. Maldivian was commissioned after the Maldives Airports Company was dissolved due to bankruptcy. His estimated net $4.1 billion.

4. Hussain Afeef

As co-founder and chairman of developer, investor, and operator Crown Company, Hussain Afeef, one of the Maldives tourism industry’s pioneers, now oversees such leading resorts as Conrad Maldives, Rangali Island, and Veligandu Island. He discusses the difficulties of establishing the country’s tourism industry from scratch, investing in Malé’s new state-of-the-art hospital, and establishing the world’s first undersea restaurant. His estimated net worth is $3.7 billion.

5. Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom

Portrait of President of the Maldives Abdulla Yameen. Photo by The President’s Office of the Republic of the Maldives.

Abdulla Yameen Abdul Gayoom is a Maldivian politician who served as President of the Maldives from 2013 to 2018. He left office on November 17, 2018, after losing the 2018 presidential election, in which he sought a second 5-year term. 

Yameen was elected president as the Progressive Party (PPM) candidate in the 2013 presidential election, defeating Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) leader and former president Mohamed Nasheed in the second round of the re-run after the first election was annulled.

He was the Republic of the Maldives’ second democratically elected president. His net worth is estimated to be $2.7 billion.

6. Moosa Manik

Moosa Manik. Photo by www.presidencymaldives.gov.mv.

Moosa Manik, also known as Reeko Moosa Manik, is a Maldivian politician and former actor. He was also a former Maldivian Democratic Party chairman and deputy speaker of the Maldives Parliament. He represented the Hulhu Henveiru constituency in parliament.

Manik and his family own Heavy Load Private Limited, a Maldives-based company that specializes in island reclamation and harbor development. Heavy Load Private Limited was awarded major government projects while he was chairman, including a US$21 million (Rf269.8 million) reclamation project to reclaim 130 hectares from Thilafushi lagoon and Emboodhoo. 

7. Shuaib Shah

Shuaib Shah is among the rich fellows in the Maldives. He’s an experienced lawyer. Shuaib’s practice focuses on the structuring and implementation of sophisticated multi-million dollar banking transactions and project finance, resort hotel sales and acquisitions, acting for owners, international hotel operators, developers and financiers of world-class luxury resorts, and airline owners, operators, and financiers.

Shuaib has served as counsel on the majority of the Maldives’ complex and high-value financing transactions and major infrastructure development projects, including the Blackstone Group’s merger and acquisition of the world’s largest seaplane fleets.

8. Shifa Thaufeeq

Shifa Thaufeeq. Photo by www.presidencymaldives.gov.mv.

Shifa Thaufeeq is a Maldivian singer who has five Gaumee Film Awards, three Aafathis Awards, and one Maldives Film Award to her name. She holds the record for the most awards as a playback singer in the Maldives.

Shifa’s net worth ranged between $3 million and $5 million. Shifa made the majority of her money from her Yeezy sneakers. While she had exaggerated the size of her business over the years, the money she made from it was substantial enough to rank as one of the largest celebrity cashouts of all time. Her primary source of income is as a successful female singer.