Ahmed Bahgat

Ahmed Bahgat was a businessman during the presidency of Hosni Mubarak. There were many suspicions about his close ties to the Mubarak regime and particularly to the President’s sons. Bahgat studied in the United States and returned to Egypt, achieving very rapid successes in the media sector. Bahgat said MBC made a bid to buy Dream Channels in 2014 but he refused it. Bahgat was one of the businessmen who helped finance Al Masry Al Youm newspaper when it was launched in 2004. But in September 2018, Bahgat stated that Dream TV would partner with one of the state-owned organizations.

Besides his media activities, Bahgat owns a large number of companies. However, there is no information about his shares. Media reports have accused Bahgat of entering into a partnership with the son of former President Mubarak, but Bahgat said he was a partner of the wife of Gamal Abdel Aziz, a former secretary of Mubarak. Bahgat also said he had a good relationship with officials in Mubarak’s regime and with Mubarak's son, but he did not employ those relations economically. After the January 25 revolution, the illicit gains authority investigated Gamal Abdel Aziz and Ahmed Bahgat on suspicion of corruption. Bahgat was sentenced because of debts to Al-Ahly and Misr banks. The sentence included the confiscation of some of the assets of his companies, but there is no information on the execution of the sentence or the reconciliation with the two banks.