|
Pakistan is a country best known for producing
unbelievable talents and astonishingly brilliant minds in almost every
field known to man. Whether it is sports, science, business, finance,
art, literature, education, or any other subject or forte, even while
facing extreme financial hardships and undeviating adversities, this
country has given birth to gems that shine while moving profusely
towards their desired goals.
Shahid Khan, a Lahore-born business magnate with a net worth of almost
$4.4billion, comes into the same category. The son of a hardworking
professor mother and born in a middle-class family whose bread and
butter were served up courtesy of a small construction business. Here
are some unknown facts about the man not known to Pakistani audience:
|
|
 |
|
1. Shahid ‘Shad’ Khan was only 16 years old in the year 1967 when he
moved to the US to pursue his dream of becoming an architect, at the
University of Illinois at Urbana-Campaign (UIUC). His dorm room cost
about $2/night, so for him to cater his own financial needs as a
student, he got his first job was as a dishwasher – a job which paid him
about $1.2/hr.
2. Soon after, in his very first semester at college, he threw away his
career blueprint of becoming an architect, citing the plain reason that
the ‘architects just don’t make enough money’, and instead pursued a
professional degree in Industrial Engineering.
|
|
|
|
3. In 1978, with $16,000 from his savings and $50,000 from a loan
company, he started Bumper Works, a small business which made one-
piece, lightweight bumpers for trucks. Within two years, Khan bought
Flex-N-Gate, the company that had initially hired him and brought his
own business Bumper Works into the fold.
4. By 1987, Shahid Khan’s Flex-N-Gate became the sole supplier of
bumpers for Toyota pickup trucks, and within two years, his company had
the honor of being the only supplier of bumpers for the entire Toyota
line in the United States.
|
|
|
|
5. In 2011, Shahid Khan became the first non-white owner of a National
Football League team when he completed the purchase of Jacksonville
Jaguars for an estimated $760million.
6. He also owns an English football club, Fulham Football Club, a
then-Premier club, currently plying its trade in the second tier of
English football, from Egyptian business tycoon, Mohamed Al Fayed, in
July 2013 for around $400 million.
|
|
 |
|
7. Shahid Khan now resides in a posh penthouse, situated on the 61st
Floor of Park Tower in Chicago, one of Chicago’s tallest buildings, a
9000 square-foot estate which cost him a cool $8.3million. He is married
to his college-sweetheart, Ann, and has two children, Tony Khan and
Shanna Khan.
8. Shahid Khan is also well-known for his philanthropic work, running
the Jaguars Foundation which provided more than $1,000,000 in grants in
2012 to children’s and family programs, as well as other NFL and
team-related initiatives. The Foundation also donated more than 11,000
charitable tickets with an in-kind value of nearly $500,000.
|
|
 |
|
9. Shahid Kahan is Ranked 179th in the Forbes 400 list of richest
Americans and is overall the 491st wealthiest person in the world; the
1st in Pakistan followed by Former President Asif Ali Zardari.
10. After his penthouse, his most prized possession is a 308ft long
yacht that boasts six bedrooms, three decks and a private sundeck with a
pool Jacuzzi-BBQ area. As a symbol, a silver Jaguar has been attached to
the bow, with one of its paws resting on a silver American football
helmet.
|
|
 |
|
11. His well-groomed mustache has become a mascot for his teams as well
as a sign of pride for his town Jacksonville in USA.
|