Azeri organized crime leader. Born in Baku, Azerbaijan, 1954 to a prominent local family. Received a degree in petrochemical engineering from the University of Moscow, 1973. Returned to Azerbaijan where he initially worked in the exploration division of Azerneftegaz. During the reforms of the mid-80's Vezirzade used his family connections to advance himself to a position of considerable power within the local petroleum industry. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union he became one of the handful of men who control all oil production within Azerbaijan - a leader in the so-called "Oil Mafia". Vezirzade's personal fortune is now thought to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. He is very secretive about his private life and his movements and although he is still believed to live in Azerbaijan, his whereabouts have not been known since late 1998.
Sources report that since his days as a student at the University of Moscow, Vezirzade has harbored strong negative feelings against the West. All indications are that as he has grown older he has only hardened in his convictions. With personal monetary resources greater than those of many countries, and an agenda of hate directed at Europe and the United States, he is high on the list of many intelligence agencies as a potential terrorist threat.
