Untying the tyrant’s tentacles

From his humble tent in the south of Tripoli, Libya’s currently embattled leader Colonel Muammar al-Qadhafi had under his control at least $210 billion — almost three times the worth of Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man according to Forbes. The United States, Canada and the European Union had, since the Libyan uprising began in mid February until the end of March, frozen approximately $70 billion in assets controlled by Qadhafi, through the Libyan central bank, 18 family members and at least 16 companies and investment vehicles, but the search for additional assets continues. Executive has scoured data and reports from governments, financial institutions and media outlets around the globe to compile what is perhaps the most comprehensive, publically available listing to date of Libya’s direct foreign asset holdings [see page 50]. Given the sheer enormity of the size and spread of these assets, and the opaque nature of Qadhafi’s