Ziad Takieddine, the central figure in the investigation into alleged Libyan financing for Nicolas Sarkozy’s 2007 presidential campaign, has died in Beirut. The news was confirmed by his lawyer on Tuesday, September 23, 2025. He was 75.
According to reports, the Franco-Lebanese businessman succumbed to a long illness that had worsened in recent weeks. Takieddine’s name was synonymous with one of France’s most sprawling political-financial scandals.
His notoriety extended beyond the so-called “Libyan financing” affair. He was also a key player in the “Karachi affair,” for which he was sentenced in absentia to five years in prison in 2020 for his role in a system of alleged kickbacks on arms deals. Following that conviction, he fled to Lebanon, which does not extradite its citizens.
Takieddine first made headlines in December 2013 when he told an investigating magistrate that he possessed evidence of a 50-million-euro Libyan payment to fund Sarkozy’s campaign. The claims escalated in November 2016 when, in a video published by Mediapart, he alleged he had personally delivered €5 million in cash from Libya to Sarkozy and his former interior minister, Claude Guéant, in 2006 and 2007. Guéant later successfully sued him for defamation.
However, Takieddine’s testimony became infamous for its volatility. While in exile in Lebanon, he temporarily retracted his accusations against Sarkozy, claiming an investigating judge had distorted his words, only to later reaffirm them. This retraction led to a new judicial investigation for witness tampering, implicating a dozen people, including Sarkozy, his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, and a prominent media figure.
A verdict in that case is expected from the Paris judicial court later this week, with prosecutors having sought a seven-year prison sentence for the former president.
Born into a prominent Lebanese Druze family in 1950, Takieddine began his career in advertising before leaving the country during its civil war. He later managed the Isola 2000 ski resort in the French Alps and cultivated relationships with right-wing political figures. His connections granted him access to the world of defense contracts, where he lived lavishly and was known for his generous gift-giving. His influence waned due to a difficult divorce, rivalry with other businessmen, and his mounting legal troubles.
