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Joseph Safra is the richest banker in the world, according to Forbes.

And, incidentally, the name Safra means yellow, or gold, in Arabic.

Convenient. Especially since the illustrious family has had their hand in the gold trade since the Ottoman Empire, facilitating trade throughout the Middle East.

Notorious for their stable yet clandestine banking operations, the mysterious Safra family continues today as a fortress of banking successes.

But the real question on everyone’s mind is this: how has such an illustrious family, at times seeped in scandal, managed to remain so mysterious to the public eye. And what transpired to cause the untimely death of its golden boy, Edmond Safra?

The Safra dynasty started in the Ottoman Empire with Joseph Safra’s great-great grandfather

Wikimedia Commons

The Safra dynasty, as it’s known today, was born with banking mogul Joseph Safra’s (b. 1939) great-great grandfather well over a century ago.

The Lebanese Jewish family became the most trusted bankers of the Ottoman Empire, most notable for facilitating trade between Alexandria, Aleppo and Istanbul. 

Source: The Guardian

When the Empire fell apart, Joseph’s father, Jacob, fled to Beirut to start another bank

Beirut’s Gran Serail Solidere, 1930

Wikimedia Commons

When the Ottoman empire began to unravel at the beginning of the twentieth century, Jacob Safra (father of Joseph and brother Edmond Safra) separated himself from the family business, Safra Freres et Cie. to open the Jacob E. Safra Bank in Beirut.

Jacob’s son Edmond joined the business at the ripe young age of 16 and quickly took over the institution’s precious metals division.  

Source: The Guardian

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