Ahmed Ezz

Ahmed Ezz (; born 12 January 1959) is an Egyptian businessman and one-time politician, the owner of Ezz Steel and the former chairman of Egypt's national assembly's budget committee. He was also the organizational secretary of the National Democratic Party of Egypt (NDP) . Entrepreneurship Ahmed Ezz was born to Lieutenant Abdel Aziz Ezz, and Palestinian Afaf Halawa, in 1959; into a family that had “traded building materials for generations,” according to The Washington Post. At the age of 19, Ezz joined the family business, Ezz Foreign Trade Co. founded in 1959, importing steel. In 1989 they went into the ceramic tiles industry, founding Al Ezz for Ceramics and Porcelain - ECAP, known for the Gemma ceramics brand. In 1994, Ezz founded Ezz Steel SAE, diversifying into manufacturing of rebars. Al-Ezz for Ceramics was listed on the Egyptian Exchange in 1998, and Ezz Steel a year later, while acquiring a 21.5% controlling stake that same year in the state-owned Alexandria National Iron & Steel Company, which was later renamed Al-Ezz Dekheila Steel Company - Alexandria EZDK. Today, Ezz owns controlling stakes in these companies through his Al Ezz Group Holding for Industry and Investment. Political career Ezz went into politics in the 1990s, joining Hosni Mubarak's National Democratic Party, and becoming a major figure there, as the party secretary. Ezz ran for parliament representing the districts of Sadat-Monouf-Sers al-Liyan in Monofuyia, where his factories are, winning seats in 2000, 2005 and 2010. He was also elected head of the Planning and Budgeting Committee.