September 11 Attacks Left Wounds, But This Man Gained Rp 77 Trillion

The September 11, 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks remain one of the deadliest tragedies in United States history. However, behind the tragedy, one individual experienced a massive windfall and became incredibly wealthy.

That individual is Larry Silverstein. Who is he?

According to CNN International, Silverstein is the founder of Silverstein Properties, a property development and management company that has long operated in New York. In July 2001, he had just acquired a 99-year lease for the World Trade Center (WTC) complex from the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The value of the deal reached approximately US$3.2 billion. Consequently, he held the rights to manage the buildings and collect revenue from tenants.

For protection, Silverstein had arranged insurance coverage for the properties under his lease. The coverage value was approximately US$3.5 billion per occurrence.

Unexpectedly, this policy became critically important. On 11 September 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 struck the North Tower of the WTC. Minutes later, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. Both towers eventually collapsed, resulting in thousands of deaths.

Silverstein subsequently filed an insurance claim. According to CBS News, he and the insurance companies became embroiled in a legal dispute regarding whether the attacks should be counted as one occurrence or two.

Silverstein argued that the two planes hitting two separate buildings constituted two different incidents. If counted twice, the total insurance payout would be significantly larger. Meanwhile, several insurance companies argued that the series of attacks on the WTC was a single occurrence. The dispute was eventually taken to court.

In 2004, a jury ruled that the attacks on the Twin Towers could be counted as two separate incidents. As a result, Silverstein received a total of US$4.55 billion—equivalent to approximately Rp 77.35 trillion (assuming an exchange rate of Rp 17,000 per US dollar)—from the destruction of the WTC buildings.

However, this money did not all become Silverstein’s personal wealth. He decided to use the funds to rebuild the WTC. His company subsequently developed several new buildings in the area, including 3 World Trade Center, 4 World Trade Center, and 7 World Trade Center.

The magnitude of the insurance payout and the fact that Silverstein had only taken over the WTC lease weeks before the attacks gave rise to various conspiracy theories. Some accused Silverstein of having prior knowledge of the attack plans and intentionally insuring the WTC.

Silverstein has denied these allegations. One of his frequent alibis is that on the day of the attacks, he was attending a pre-scheduled doctor’s appointment, which helped debunk the conspiracy theories.