On 9 October 2026 the Financial Times published an investigation by Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper into the Syrian Sovereign Fund, which Ahmed al-Sharaa created by decree in 2025. 1 2 This dossier sets out what the FT reported, what official records and company announcements confirm, and what remains unknown.
What the Financial Times reported
According to the FT, citing businesspeople and officials, the fund has taken control of state-owned property and of companies confiscated from people linked to the Assad government, with interests in every economic sector — from factories and malls to real estate and stakes in banks. The finance minister valued its assets at $50 billion last year, but the fund has disclosed neither its holdings, its finances nor the identity of its director. It says its businesses employ more than 40,000 workers. 1
The FT reported that the fund is chaired by the tourism minister and reports directly to the president, and that analysts and businesspeople describe it as a powerful tool of control over the economy whose officials decide who runs and invests in key sectors. Thaer Laham, managing director of the Syrian Business Council, called it the “wealthiest entity in Syria for now”. 1
The director and the head of the property arm
Supported by independent sources
Three people who have met him told the FT that the fund’s director is Ibrahim (Abraham) Succarieh, a Lebanese-Australian who does not appear on the fund’s website and is under Australian sanctions. 1 This matches forum material from May 2026 that named him director-general. 3 No decree appointing him has been published. 4
The FT reported that the fund’s property arm is headed by Mohamad al-Khayyat, of the billionaire Syrian-Qatari al-Khayyat family. 1 The fund’s own announcement of its $7 billion “New Damascus” agreement with the Emirati developer Arada, signed on 31 August 2026, names him as its Director of Real Estate Development and signatory. 5 6
What official records and company announcements confirm
Supported by independent sources
- Assets of Samer Foz: in February 2026 Basel Sweidan, head of the National Committee to Combat Illicit Gain, told SANA that the settlement with Foz involved transferring ownership of 32 companies and other assets in industry, trade, services and banking, which were moved “to the Development Fund via the Sovereign Fund”. 7 Foz is under U.S. and European sanctions for supporting the Assad government. 1
- Al-Maliki Mall in Damascus: in September 2026 the same committee announced the end of its investigation into Mohammad and Wassim Qattan and handed management of the mall and its assets to the Sovereign Fund. 8
- Mobile network: the fund holds 25 per cent of the company that won Syria’s second mobile licence, for $747 million; Kuwait’s Zain holds 75 per cent. 9
- Riyadh Cables (Saudi Arabia) signed an 18-year agreement in January 2026 to rehabilitate and run a Syrian cable company, with 40 per cent of profits or losses going to the fund. 10
- Tiryaki (Turkey) signed a ten-year agreement with the fund in June 2026 to process soybeans and sunflower seeds. 11
- In July 2026 the fund’s vehicle company signed a partnership with China’s Yutong to manufacture vehicles in Syria. 12
What the fund says
The fund declined to answer the FT’s questions about its assets, revenues, management and transparency. It said that “as a new institution in its establishment phase, the Fund is building its governance step by step”, that it is working towards alignment with international practices for sovereign wealth funds, and that “all returns belong to the Syrian state”. 1
Transparency and contested ownership
Jihad Yazigi, editor of The Syria Report, told the FT that an entity that is non-transparent, manages huge sums and whose chief executive “has not been officially named” raises “a lot of question marks”, though Gulf investors may not mind dealing with an institution that bypasses red tape. 1
According to the FT, the fund has had difficulty changing the registered owners of some companies, and former owners have contested seizures or sought to recover stakes they lost under Assad. In the case of the Qattans’ mall, the original developer, from whom it had been taken under Assad, petitioned for redress; the Damascus governorate told the FT the fund had reached a deal with him. 1
What this does and does not show
Official statements confirm that assets seized in illicit-gain settlements have been placed with the Sovereign Fund, and company and government announcements confirm many of its deals. 9 7 8 The identity of its director rests on press reports and forum material, not on a published decree, and the fund has published no accounts or list of holdings. 1 4
Nothing published shows that Mohamad al-Khayyat has acted unlawfully in his role at the fund. The fund’s holdings, revenues and how its returns are used have not been disclosed; we will update this page if they are.
The secret economic committee (Reuters)
People in this article
Sources
- Press Syria funnels assets from Assad cronies into secretive $50bn fund — Financial Times — Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper, October 9, 2026
- Official record Presidential decree (No. 113 of 2025) establishing a sovereign fund — SANA, July 9, 2025
- Press Names of the Syrian Sovereign Fund’s leadership and the structure of its assets — Zaman al-Wasl (summarising The Syria Report), May 15, 2026
- Press Abu Mariam al-Australi and Syria’s Sovereign Fund: a de facto director without a published appointment — The Syrian Observer, September 7, 2026
- Official record Arada and the Syrian Sovereign Fund sign agreement to develop New Damascus (press release) — Syrian Sovereign Fund, August 31, 2026
- Official record Syrian Sovereign Fund, UAE Arada Group sign $7 billion New Damascus project — SANA, August 31, 2026
- Official record Head of the National Committee to Combat Illicit Gain on settlements, including the transfer of 32 companies of Samer Foz (Arabic) — SANA, February 26, 2026
- Press Al-Maliki Mall recovered for public funds and its management handed to the Syrian Sovereign Fund (Arabic, citing the illicit-gain committee) — Yalla Syria News, September 5, 2026
- Official record Syria’s second mobile licence awarded for $747 million; Sovereign Fund to hold 25% of the operating company — SANA, July 5, 2026
- Press Riyadh Cables signs agreement with the Syrian Sovereign Fund to rehabilitate and operate a Syrian cable company — Argaam, January 18, 2026
- Official record Tiryaki Syria and Syrian Sovereign Fund enter cooperation to strengthen agricultural industry — PR Newswire (Tiryaki), June 12, 2026
- Official record SCAI and Yutong sign strategic partnership to localise vehicle manufacturing in Syria — Syrian Sovereign Fund, July 20, 2026