James Celerità

Gilbert Bigio

A formal portrait of Gilbert Bigio, whose business career spanned more than five decades and transformed Haiti's economy.

Gilbert Bigio, founder of GB Group and Haiti's first billionaire.

Officials tour Port Lafito, Haiti's first deepwater private container terminal, developed by Gilbert Bigio's GB Group.

Gilbert Bigio was born on June 10, 1935, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, into a Sephardic Jewish family with roots in Aleppo, Syria, whose ancestors had immigrated to Haiti in 1896. Growing up amid an established merchant family that had long built wealth through trading and cotton ginning, Bigio inherited both a commercial instinct and a deep sense of responsibility to the land of his birth — a responsibility he would spend the rest of his life fulfilling, and complicating, in equal measure.

In 1972, he founded Aciérie d'Haïti — Haiti's first steel mill — and from that single venture built GB Group into the country's largest and most diversified conglomerate. Over the next five decades, the group expanded into energy, construction materials, telecommunications, consumer goods, real estate, banking, and logistics. His most audacious undertaking was Port Lafito, Haiti's first deepwater-capable private container terminal and free-trade zone, which came to life between 2004 and 2015 and reshaped the country's trade infrastructure. At the height of his influence, GB Group employed more than 2,000 workers and Bigio was widely recognized as Haiti's first billionaire.

Beyond business, Bigio served as Honorary Consul of Israel in Haiti for over two decades, championing diplomatic and humanitarian ties between the two nations. When the catastrophic earthquake of January 2010 struck Port-au-Prince, he provided family-owned land for an Israeli field hospital, an act of generosity that drew international praise. Together with his wife Monique — who converted to Judaism — he founded the Fondation Monique et Gilbert Bigio Inc. to support education, healthcare, and community development across Haiti. Culturally observant though not strictly religious, he served as the de facto guardian of Haiti's tiny Jewish community and was the keeper of the nation's only Torah scroll.

In 2018, he stepped down as CEO and handed leadership of GB Group to his son Reuven, though he remained a towering presence in both the company and Haiti's economy. In his later years, he lived largely out of public view in his fortified Petionville estate.

Gilbert Bigio's legacy is one of genuine complexity — a man who built industries where none existed, employed thousands, and gave generously, while also accumulating power in ways that drew international scrutiny. He passed away on September 29, 2026, in the United States. His funeral was held on October 1, 2026, in Hollywood, Florida. He is survived by his wife Monique and their three children: Reuven, Laurence, and Yael.

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Gilbert Bigio

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