Sajeeb Wazed Age, Wife, Children, Family, Biography

Bio/Wiki
Full Name	Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed
Other Name	Sajeeb Wazed Joy
Profession(s)	• Politician • Businessman
Known For	Being the son of the tenth Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina
Physical Stats
Height (approx.)	5' 11" (180 cm)
Eye Colour	Dark Brown
Hair Colour	Black
Politics
Political Party	Bangladesh Awami League
Political Journey	• 2010: Became a member of the Rangpur district unit of Awami League • 2019: Served as the Information and Communication Technology Advisor to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh till 2023 (again from 21 January 2024 to 5 August 2024)
Awards	2016: ICT for Development Award by the government of Bangladesh 2021: Asian-Oceanian computing industry organization (ASOCIO) Leadership Award for his contributions to the field of information technology
Personal Life
Date of Birth	27 July 1971 (Tuesday)
Age (as of 2024)	53 Years
Birthplace	Dhaka, Bangladesh
Zodiac sign	Leo
Nationality	Bangladeshi
Hometown	Dhaka, Bangladesh
School	• St.Joseph's College, Nainital, Uttarakhand • Kodaikanal International School, Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu
College/University	• Bengaluru University, Bangalore, India • The University of Texas at Arlington, Texas, United States • Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Massachusetts, United States
Educational Qualification(s)	• A degree in computer science from Bengaluru University • BSc in computer engineering from The University of Texas • MBA from Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University
Religion	Islam
Controversies	• Arrested on various accounts In February 1999, Sajeeb Wajed was arrested in Toronto County, Texas, USA. He was sentenced to 120 days in jail, two years of probation and a $500 fine for possession of illegal weapons and driving while intoxicated. On 19 March 2000, he was again arrested this time in Fairfax County, Virginia, for driving under influence. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, 12 months probation, and a $400 fine. • Accused of corruption In April 2016, a British investigative journalist David Bergman wrote an exclusive article in the Indian website The Wire in which he claimed that Wazed was mentioned in a "Suspicious Activity Report" (SAR) regarding a transaction of US$300 million by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and was linked to corruption money; however, the court documents did not have any further information about ‘US$300 million’ transaction. • Criticised for his comments on the attacks on atheists In 2015, after the killing of the atheist blogger and writer Avijit Roy, many atheists and secular people wanted the government to publicly condemn the killing; however, Sajeeb supported the Awami League government's decision to not publicly comment on the incident. In an interview, he said, "The political situation in Bangladesh is too volatile for my mother to comment publicly. We are walking a fine line here, we don’t want to be seen as atheists. It doesn’t change our core beliefs. We believe in secularism. But given that our opposition party plays that religion card against us relentlessly, we can’t come out strongly for him. It’s about perception, not about reality." [1]Reuters After his interview, a British journalist described Sajeeb's comments as "pathetic" in an article in The Guardian. • Accused of suppressing free media in Bangladesh In 2016, Sajeeb Wazed got into a disagreement with the media when he described the Bangladeshi journalist Mahfuz Anam as "completely unethical" and a liar. Wazed also demanded that the journalist be thrown in jail after he wrote corruption stories against Sheikh Hasina during the 2007-8 military-controlled caretaker regime. Later, Mahfuz Anam claimed that he had made a mistake and should have never run the stories. [2]BBC • Allegations of spreading misinformation On 22 December 2022, three representatives from the UN wrote a joint letter in which they accused Sajeeb Wazed for sharing misinformation against them. According to the letter, Sajeeb Wazed spread the wrong information while the Representatives were pointing out basic human rights abuse incidents in Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina's tenure as the Prime Minister. In another incident in June 2022, Sajeeb was again accused of spreading misinformation by the Agence France-Presse Fact Check team. [3]AFP Fact Check
Social Media	• Facebook • Twitter • LinkedIn
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Married
Marriage Date	26 October 2002
Family
Wife/Spouse	Kristine Ann Overmire
Children	Son- None Daughter- Sophia Wazed
Parents	Father- M. A. Wazed Miah (Physicist; passed away on 9 May 2009) Mother- Sheikh Hasina (Bangladeshi politician; Served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh)
Siblings	Brother- None Sister- Saima Wazed (Global Autism Advocate)
Other Relatives	• Maternal Aunt: Sheikh Rehana (Politician) • Maternal Grandfather: Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (politician; deceased)
Money Factor
Net Worth (approx.)	$1.5 billion (as of 2024)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Sajeeb Wazed

• Sajeeb Wazed belongs to the Tungipara Sheikh family, one of the two most prominent Bangladeshi political families.

• He was born during the Liberation War of Bangladesh and the victory of the Bengalis led to his nickname Joy.

• In 1975, while he was in Germany visiting his father who worked there along with his mother, sister, and aunt, his grandparents and uncles were murdered during a military coup in Bangladesh.

• His family was not allowed to enter Bangladesh by the military until 1981.

• In 1981, he returned to Bangladesh along with his family after which his mother became the president of the Awami League Party and began working to restore democracy in Bangladesh.

• Later, Wazed moved to India to complete his schooling. After completing his schooling, he moved to the United States to pursue his further education.

• In the United States, he started a firm known as Wazed Consulting Inc. and began working as its President.

• Wazed came into the limelight in Bangladesh politics after his return to the country in 2004 which was highly publicized.

• In 2009, he once again made the headlines after his statements praising his mother’s actions in the BDR Mutiny case.

• In 2007, the World Economic Forum featured him in the Young Global Leader list as an Information Technology (IT) specialist.

• He is considered the mastermind of the Digital Bangladesh initiative, an initiative by the government to improve the country in various sectors including telecommunications, internet connectivity and speed, digitization, and media.

• He was appointed by the government to promote the Vision 2021 manifesto of the Awami League.

• Wazed has worked as a lobbyist and columnist for the Bangladeshi government.