Bonyads are Iranian charitable trusts that control over 40% of Iran's GDP. Initially set up during the time of the Shah, they were used to funnel money into the Shah's personal coffers. After the Iranian revolution, the Bonyads were used to redistribute oil income amongst the poor and amongst the families of martyrs.

Today, Bonyads are a consortium of comapnes which are exempt from taxes and answer directly to the unelected supreme leader of Iran. Bonyads are overstaffed, corrupt, and generally not profitable. In 1999 Mohammad Forouzandeh, a former defense minister, reported that only 20% Iran's Bonyad companies were making a profit.

References

"A mess." (Jul 19, 2001). The Economist

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