Gilbert Bigio
Haitian businessman (1934/1935–2026)
Gilbert Bigio (1934 or 1935 – 29 September 2026) was a Haitian businessman. He was the founder of GB Group and Haiti's first billionaire.2
From Wikipedia’s article on Gilbert Bigio (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Born 1935, died Sep 29, 2026.1
About
Bigio was sanctioned by the Government of Canada for his involvement in arms trafficking and human rights violations in Haiti. He was also the de facto leader of Haiti's Jewish community and an honorary consul to Israel.
Bigio's name appeared in the 2021 Pandora Papers leak of secret offshore company documents by the ICIJ. In an accounting document from the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, Bigio was revealed as the buyer of Epstein's Mercedes Maybach at a price of $132,000. Other leaked documents showed Bigio moving wealth to Miami and Switzerland through offshore companies in different tax havens.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gilbert Bigio, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2
Companies
Early life and education
Bigio was from a Sephardic Jewish family from Aleppo in the Ottoman Empire (now Syria), whose family immigrated to Haiti in 1896. The family has also been involved in other commercial activities all throughout the country. The Bigio family has remained in Haiti, prominent in business affairs for three generations. Bigio was not religious, but did own the only Sefer Torah in Haiti and culturally participated in Jewish holidays and events. His wife Monique is a convert to Judaism. According to Bigio, he never experienced antisemitism in Haiti.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gilbert Bigio (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Career
Occupation: diplomat, businessperson.4
In 1972, Bigio founded GB Group starting with Aciérie d’Haïti (Haiti Steelworks). In the 1980s, the company controlled almost all the commercial steel within Haiti. Bigio continued to grow the company's reach, expanding into consumer goods, energy and fuel, telecommunications, real estate, banking, and logistics.
Bigio served as Honorary Israeli Consul and, later, so did his son, Reuven.
From Wikipedia’s article on Gilbert Bigio (this version), CC BY-SA 4.0.
Personal life
Links
Sources
The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.
- 1WikidataGilbert Bigio on Wikidata
- 2WikipediaGilbert Bigio on Wikipedia
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- 7WikidataGB Group, Founder