Pakistan is one of the largest countries in the world by population. With a population in excess of 210,000,000 people and a high fertility rate, Pakistanis are also one of the fastest growing populations on the planet, with estimates putting their number at more than 300,000,000 by 2050. Because of this huge number, there are many Pakistanis who have moved abroad and are counted among the rich businessmen of Pakistani origin.
Because of the abundance of talent in this corner of the world, financial prosperity of Pakistan’s richest comes as no surprise. It is interesting to note just how moneyed some people are, especially when these people are one of your own! Some of the most prominent propertied Pakistani persons across the globe are as follows.
Rich Pakistani Businessmen based in the USA and UK
Originally from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Mr Pervez moved to the UK at the age of twenty one (1956). A businessman, philanthropist and Pakistan’s richest born Briton, Mr Pervez has a net worth of about four billion pounds. In addition, he was awarded the ‘Hilal-e-Pakistan’ by the government for his services to the homeland.
He deals in Cement, Banking and Wholesale business. Upon arrival to the UK, Mr Pervez worked as a bus conductor and driver, and gradually earned just enough to create his own convenience store named ‘Kashmir’ in London.
Read more: Famous politicians of Pakistani origin around the world
By the early seventies, he changed his company’s name to ‘Bestway’, which was no longer a single store, but a collection of ten convenience stores operating across West London. The company has since grown into a multibillion-pound enterprise, and as of 2014, Bestway is the second-largest independent wholesaler in the UK.
British-Pakistani entrepreneur and television personality, James Caan (also known as Nazim Khan by his pakistani counterparts) enjoys a net worth of ninety five million pounds. His BBC program ‘Dragon Den’ bought him most of his fame. While Mr Caan/Khan failed to enrol in a traditional undergraduate program, he completed an advanced management course at Harvard University.
The ‘Caan’ foundation named after him is evidence of his charitable nature, and his partnership with UNICEF, specifically to provide shelter and other necessities to those affected by the 2010 flooding in the northern village of Nowshera, Pakistan all the more confirms his status as philanthropist. He is originally from Lahore, Pakistan and moved to the UK with his family as a two year old in the year 1962.
Industrial Engineer and sports tycoon, Mr Shahid Rafiq Khan alone has a net worth of eight billion US dollars. He is the owner of, inter alia, a football franchise (Jacksonville Jaguars) and professional wrestling association based in Florida, USA(All Elite Wrestling), a football club based in London UK (Fulham FC), and an automotive parts supplier company in Illinois, USA (Flex-n-Gate).
He is originally from Lahore, Pakistan, born into a middle class family. He moved to the US in 1967 as a sixteen year old and his first income came from washing dishes. He was employed by Flex-n-Gate as an undergraduate, which he bought in the year 1980.
When Pakistanis get rich. They prefer to go abroad.
— Yaseen Badar (@engryaseenbadar) August 15, 2020
Pakistani- American, Ashar Aziz too has a net worth of around two hundred and thirty four million US Dollars. As an electrical engineer, business executive and philanthropist, Mr Aziz founded a cybersecurity company in Silicon Valley, California which marks the centre of technology and innovation across the United States.
Read more: Pakistan’s Elites: Top 10 Richest Men Of Pakistan
Originally from Karachi, he came to the US as a student. Just recently, Ashar Aziz inaugurated the Nisar Aziz Agri-Tech Center at Namal Institute (named after his own mother), which seeks to provide farmers with agricultural education.
He was also bestowed with the Sitara-i-Imtiaz by the Pakistani government as an acknowledgment for his valuable contributions in the field of information technology. Mr Aziz graduated from the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology, USA as an international student, and completed his masters in computer science from UC Berkeley.
Rich Pakistani Businessmen based in UAE
Reigning over a net worth of one billion US dollars, Nasir Schon is one of the most prominent overseas Pakistani businessmen today who is originally from Karachi. Interestingly, Mr Schon was one of the first Pakistanis to own the luxurious Rolls Royce.
Pakistani-American Businessman , Shahid Khan is all praises for Prime Minister Imran Khan!
“He is greater than life and the best thing to happen to Pakistan”#PMIKInUSA pic.twitter.com/0se1kdSLIS
— Tehreek-e-Insaf (@InsafPK) July 23, 2019
He graduated from New York University and currently resides in the UAE. He specialises in real estate and has created projects such as the Dubai Lagoon. Mr Schon just recently purchased the “Multan Sultan’s”, a prominent cricket team under the PSL.
Read more: Top 10 richest families in the world: How rich they actually are?
Finally, Pakistani businessman based in Dubai, Mr Arif Naqvi rules over a networth of fourteen billion US dollars. Mr Naqvi started his career with Arthur Andersen in London and American Express in Karachi, where he is originally from. A graduate of LSE, Mr Naqvi was presented the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, as recognition of his considerable input in the field of public service.
He is the founder and creator of a Dubai based private equity firm; The Abraaj Group. Mr Naqvi is currently facing extradition on criminal charges of inflating company assets and fund misappropriation, and this has caused provisional liquidation of his firm.
Education, hardwork and perhaps even destiny has paved the way for the aforementioned opulent figures to attain financial prosperity while the state at large remains in debt.
Read more: Here are the world’s 10 richest royals in the world
Nonetheless, it should not go unnoticed how a good majority of rich businessmen abroad have engaged in charitable and humanitarian work and continue to do so. One can only hope that the impoverished Pakistani can rise beyond deprivation in much the same way as the overseas plentiful Pakistani.