At Whale Hunting, we don’t just publish stories—we run long-haul investigations we call Expeditions. These are deep, evolving hunts into the hidden architecture of power: who has it, how they got it, and what they’re hiding. The Unauthorized Rich List is one of those expeditions. It’s our effort to map the world’s most concealed fortunes—wealth built in the shadows, shielded by shell companies, proxies, and silence.

Today, we’re back—with a new Rich List entry that leads us to the highest levels of Bangladeshi power: Sheikh Hasina. More Expeditions are on the way—new intel on Jho Low, a breakthrough in the Havana Syndrome file, and live investigations unfolding in real time as video podcasts.

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Now: let’s follow the money.

Sheikh Hasina: Power, Wealth, and a Hidden Empire

The Escape

Sheikh Hasina's last view of Bangladesh was through the window of a military helicopter as crowds of protesters stormed her palatial residence below. It was August 2024, and the woman who had dominated Bangladesh for 16 years was fleeing to exile in India. Her security forces had just brutally cracked down on a student-led uprising, leaving upwards of a thousand people dead.

In her wake, an interim government immediately turned its attention to an open secret long whispered about during Hasina's reign – the vast financial empire allegedly amassed by her family during decades in power. For years, Hasina cultivated the image of a matriarchal leader living modestly on a $12,000 annual salary.

But investigators in Dhaka and journalists abroad are now uncovering a very different legacy: billions in hidden assets stretching from Dhaka to London, Dubai to New York, all tied to the once-untouchable Sheikh Hasina and her inner circle.

Official Wealth vs. Reality

On paper, Prime Minister Hasina's finances appeared almost humble. Her official annual salary was only around $12,000, and she publicly declared total assets worth roughly Tk 4.3 crore (approximately half a million USD) in her election affidavit. She even listed quaint income streams like agriculture and fish farming on family land. For one of the world's longest-serving female leaders, these figures painted an image of frugality.