Kriti Mehrotra
Although June 18, 2023, was supposed to be an exciting day for Shahzada Dawood and his 19-year-old son Suleman as they set out on an expedition to the Titanic wreck, things changed within hours. That’s because, as explored in Netflix’s ‘Titan: The OceanGate Submersible Disaster,’ the titular vessel they were in imploded when they were at a depth of 3,500 meters, instantly killing everyone on board. It later came to light that one seat for this exploratory adventure actually cost $250,000, making us wonder more about who the Dawoods were, the patriarch’s career trajectory, and his net worth.
How Did Shahzada Dawood Earn His Money?
Born on February 12, 1975, in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, as the eldest son in an extremely affluent industrialist family, Shahzada Dawood learned the significance of hard work and perseverance at an early age. His paternal grandfather, Ahmed Dawood, was actually a prominent businessman who had initially established the Dawood Group in the 1940s, which gradually grew to expand across Pakistan and the UK. In fact, by the time the 1970s rolled around, all its subsidiaries/undertakings in various industries had made it the biggest local corporation, resulting in it soon becoming a family legacy. Therefore, of course, Shahzada already knew a lot about the company and its practices even when he was just a teenager and attending the elite Aitchison College boarding school in Lahore.
Little did anybody know that upon graduating, the young man would decide to switch gears to pursue a Bachelor’s in Law (or an LLB) from the University of Buckingham in England. This field had interested him since he was a child, so he decided to take a chance. He later returned to his roots with a Master’s in Global Textile Marketing from Philadelphia University. According to reports, it was in 2003 when Shahzada really started his career by joining a conglomerate called Engro Corporation, shortly after which he also became a part of the family business. Under the banner of Dawood Hercules Corporation, he had actually garnered incredible success by finding growth opportunities through mergers and acquisitions of publicly listed firms.
These spanned various particular sectors, including textiles, foods, fertilizers, and energy, among many more, which is how he gradually climbed the corporate ladder to the top. We specify this hierarchical climb because by the time the summer of 2023 came around, 48-year-old Shahzada had proudly evolved from Vice Chairman to Director at Dawood Hercules Corporation. As if that’s not enough, this 2012 recipient of the Young Global Leader title by the World Economic Forum had also gone from a mere Board Member to Vice Chairman at Engro Corporation. In other words, when he, unfortunately, passed away in the Titan submersible implosion, he was undeniably thriving as an entrepreneur, hobbyist explorer, and true philanthropist.
Shahzada Dawood’s Net Worth
Considering Shahzada’s background and long career at high-level positions at two corporations under Dawood Group, it goes without saying that he had managed to accumulate significant wealth by June 2023. His precise income has never been public knowledge, yet we estimate he made approximately $60,000 in salary in his initial years, which gradually grew to millions as he proved his mettle. Furthermore, with Engro and Dawood Hercules Corporation being valued at over $1.2 billion combined in 2023, he reportedly was also a significant stakeholder in the companies.
It’s also imperative to note that from 1996 to 2023, Shahzada was a trustee at The Dawood Foundation (TDF) too, the primary focus of which was to help youngsters get the education they deserve. During this period, he further worked hard to provide mental health support to people hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, all the while even serving as a trustee of Engro Foundation. Moreover, the England-settled businessman was also a member of the Global Advisory Board for Prince’s Trust International and a board member of the SETI Institute. So, taking all these aspects into consideration, alongside his possible assets in Pakistan, Singapore, Malta, and the UK, likely investments, potential returns, and expenses as a family man, we believe Shahzada Dawood had a net worth of $350 million at the time of his death.
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