[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text dp_text_size=”size-4″]The father and son aboard the missing Titanic tourist submarine are members of one of Pakistan’s most distinguished and wealthy families, noted for their charitable contributions to the country.
Dual British-AmericanPakistani citizens Shahzada Dawood, 48, and his son Suleman, 19, who spent $500,000 on an exclusive trip, are part of the Dawood empire, which has become one of Pakistan’s most profitable.
According to local media, the patriarch at the top of the chain, Shahzada’s father Hussain Dawood, is one of Pakistan’s wealthiest individuals.
According to Aqeel Karim Dhedhi, a business entrepreneur and stock trader in Karachi, the Dawoods contributed finance to the government and were behind the initial wave of industry when Pakistan was created in 1947.
“They set up major industrial projects and thus provided employment for thousands of people in the newborn country,” Dhedhi told AFP.
He called the family “one of the top philanthropic groups in Pakistan,” but added, “They don’t brag about any of it.”
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Engro, of whom Shahzada is vice chairman, is part of the Dawood conglomerate. It has stakes in energy, agriculture, petrochemical, and telecommunications ventures and expects to earn Rs350 billion ($1.2 billion) in income in 2022.
Shahzada was educated in the United Kingdom and the United States and currently resides in the United Kingdom with his wife Christine, son Suleman, and daughter Alina.
Shahzada was described as a “loving father” who enjoyed “photography, especially wildlife photography, and exploring different natural habitats” in a family statement
Suleman enjoys Rubik’s Cube puzzles, volleyball, and “is a big fan of science fiction literature and learning new things,” according to the statement.
Shahzada’s interest in exploration extends to space, and he is a trustee of the California-based Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute (SETI), which, according to its website, seeks proof of alien life.
Shahzada and his family are arguably most known for their charitable activity, notably in offering entrepreneurial and educational opportunities to young people from low-income families.
Since the 1960s, the Dawood Foundation has concentrated on developing educational institutions throughout Pakistan, with a particular emphasis on meeting the demand for engineers and technology professionals.
Shahzada also serves on the board of the Prince’s Trust in the United Kingdom, a nonprofit that assists young people in obtaining jobs, education, and training.
He was the keynote speaker at a United Nations forum on agricultural equity in February 2020.
“Women are under-represented in such an important aspect of our lives as food and livelihood.” “We must first consider the viewpoint of women,” he stated.
Both Shahzada and his father Hussain were mentioned in the 2016 publication of the so-called Panama Papers, a leak of more than 11.5 million financial and legal data revealing the world’s affluent and powerful’s covert offshore accounts.
Between 2005 and 2009, both were identified as having accounts in the British Virgin Islands.
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