According to testimony of captured terrorist Essam al-Ridi on February 14, 2001, “Most of the thousands of employees in bin Laden’s vast array of businesses had no idea that al-Qaeda existed. That was a secret; to know of the group’s existence you had to be a member. Salaries for al-Qaeda members ranged from $500 to a top rate of $1,200 a month, money that went a long way in one of the poorest countries in the world.”
– Peter Bergen, Holy War, Inc., Page 83