Shahid Rafiq "Shad" Khan (; born July 18, 1950)"Shahid Khan: From Pakistan to pro-football"
''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' profile of Khan (aired October 28, 2012) is a Pakistani-American billionaire businessman and sports tycoon. Khan is the owner of the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL) and Fulham F.C. of the , and co-owner of the American professional wrestling promotion

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW), along with his son, Tony Khan. He is also the owner of Flex-N-Gate, an American supplier of motor vehicle components. Khan was featured on the front cover of ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

'' magazine in 2012, associating him as the face of the

American Dream The "American Dream" is a phrase referring to a purported national ethos of the United States: that every person has the freedom and opportunity to succeed and attain a better life. The phrase was popularized by James Truslow Adams during the ...

. As of January 2025, Khan's personal net worth is $13.3 billion. In 2024, he ranked 55th in the

Forbes 400 The ''Forbes'' 400 or 400 Richest Americans is a list published by ''Forbes'' magazine of the wealthiest 400 American citizens who own assets in the U.S., ranked by net worth. The 400 was started by Malcolm Forbes in 1982 and the list is ...

list of richest Americans, and is the 167th richest person in the world. Khan is the richest auto parts magnate.

Early life and education

Khan was born in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

, Pakistan, to a middle-class family involved in the construction industry. His mother was a professor of mathematics, and his father, Rafiq Khan, owned a shop that sold survey and drawing equipment. Shahid Khan also had a brother named Tariq Rafiq Khan, who died in his early 20s. Khan moved to the United States in 1967 at the age of 16 to study at the

University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. Established in 1867, it is the f ...

.James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones
''Lean Thinking: Banish Waste and Create Wealth in Your Corporation''
Free Press, 2nd ed., 2003, .Sandomir, Richard (December 1, 2011)
"Jaguars Buyer Had His Eye on Ownership of a Franchise"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Retrieved December 1, 2011. When he went to the United States, he spent his first night in a $2/night room at the university

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organisation based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It has nearly 90,000 staff, some 920,000 volunteers and 12,000 branches w ...

, and his first job was washing dishes for $1.20 an hour. He joined the

Beta Theta Pi Beta Theta Pi (), commonly known as Beta, is a North American social Fraternities and sororities in North America, fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, , it consist ...

fraternity at the school. He graduated from the Grainger College of Engineering with a BSc in

industrial engineering Industrial engineering (IE) is concerned with the design, improvement and installation of integrated systems of people, materials, information, equipment and energy. It draws upon specialized knowledge and skill in the mathematical, physical, an ...

in 1971. He later was awarded the Mechanical Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999.Professorship Profiles: Shahid and Ann Carlson Khan
, Center on Health, Aging and Disability, UIUC College of Applied Health Sciences (retrieved February 12, 2010).

Business career

Flex-N-Gate

Khan worked at the automotive manufacturing company Flex-N-Gate Corporation while attending the University of Illinois. When he graduated he was hired as the engineering director for the company. In 1978, he started Bumper Works, which made car bumpers for customized pickup trucks and body shop repairs. The funds to start the new business included a $50,000 loan from the

Small Business Administration The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) is an independent agency of the United States government that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and str ...

and $16,000 of his own savings. In 1980, he bought Flex-N-Gate from his former employer Charles Gleason Butzow, bringing Bumper Works into the fold. The company grew under Khan, so that it supplied bumpers for the Big Three automakers. In 1984, he began supplying a small number of bumpers for

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

pickups. By 1987 it was the sole supplier for Toyota pickups and by 1989 it was the sole supplier for the entire Toyota line in the United States. Adopting

the Toyota Way The Toyota Way is a set of principles defining the organizational culture of Toyota Motor Corporation. The company formalized the Toyota Way in 2001, after decades of academic research into the Toyota Production System and its implications for le ...

increased company efficiency and ability to change its manufacturing process within a few minutes. Since then, the company has grown from $17 million in sales to an estimated $2 billion in 2010 to $8.89 billion in 2020.Rams will be sold to Illinois businessman Shahid Khan
, ''

St. Louis Post-Dispatch The ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' is a regional newspaper based in St. Louis, Missouri, serving the St. Louis metropolitan area. It is the largest daily newspaper in the metropolitan area by circulation, surpassing the '' Belleville News-Democra ...

'', February 11, 2010. Its operation in

Sandusky, Ohio Sandusky ( ) is a city in Erie County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Situated on the southern shore of Lake Erie, Sandusky is located roughly midway between Toledo, Ohio, Toledo ( west) and Cleveland ( east). At the 2020 United Stat ...

, is one of the largest automotive light manufacturing plants in the United States. By 2019, Flex-N-Gate had 25,000 employees and 69 manufacturing plants in the United States, China, Argentina, Spain, France, Germany, Mexico and Canada. In 2020, it had a revenue of $8.9 billion and was ranked as the 46th largest privately held American company by ''Forbes''. It is also ranked by ''

Automotive News ''Automotive News'' is a weekly newspaper established in 1925, written for the automotive industry, predominantly for individuals corresponding with automobile manufacturers and automotive suppliers. It is based in Detroit and owned by Crain ...

'' as the 7th largest American automotive parts supplier and overall 33rd largest supplier in the world. In May 2012, the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA; ) is a regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. The United States Congress established ...

fined Flex-N-Gate $57,000 for health violations at its Urbana plant. Before the 2012 NFL draft, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) and other environmentalist groups organized a protest campaign for several accusations against Flex-N-Gate and Khan.

Sport and entertainment

Jacksonville Jaguars

Khan's first attempt to purchase a

team came on February 11, 2010, when he entered into an agreement to acquire 60% of the then- St. Louis Rams from Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez, subject to approval by other NFL owners. However, Stan Kroenke, the minority shareholder of the Rams, ultimately exercised a clause in his ownership agreement to match any proposed bid. On November 29, 2011, Khan agreed to purchase the

from Wayne Weaver and his ownership group subject to NFL approval. Weaver announced his sale of the team to Khan later that same day. The terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed, other than a verbal commitment to keep the team in

Jacksonville Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The purchase price was $770 million. The NFL owners unanimously approved the purchase on December 14, 2011. The sale was finalized on January 4, 2012, making Khan the first member of an ethnic minority to own an NFL team. Khan is a board member of the NFL Foundation. Khan is one of three NFL team owners born outside of the United States, the other two being Kim Pegula of the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

, born in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, and Zygi Wilf of the

Minnesota Vikings The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis. The Vikings compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. Founded in 1960 as ...

, born in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Fulham F.C.

In July 2013, Khan negotiated the purchase of the London

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

club Fulham F.C. of the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

from its previous owner, Mohamed Al Fayed. The deal was finalized on July 12, 2013, with the amount estimated between £150–200 million. An official purchase price for the club was not announced with him stating that it was "highly confidential".

All Elite Wrestling

In 2019, it was revealed that Shahid Khan and his son, Tony Khan, are the lead investors behind the professional wrestling promotion

(AEW). Tony Khan is also the President and CEO of the promotion. On April 24, 2024, Khan made his on-screen debut, coming out to the ring after his son was attacked (as part of a story angle) by Jack Perry and The Young Bucks.

Black News Channel

Khan was the majority shareholder in Black News Channel throughout the network's two-year existence.

Personal life

Khan is non-observant

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

. Khan met Ann Carlson (now Ann Carlson Khan) at the University of Illinois in 1967 and dated her for ten years before they married in 1977. They have two children together, a daughter named Shanna Khan and a son, Tony Khan. Khan became a naturalized American citizen in 1991. Khan owns a house in

Naples, Florida Naples is a city in Collier County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 19,115, down from 19,539 at the 2010 census. Naples is a principal city of the Collier County, Florida, Naples–Marc ...

, and an apartment in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood. He owned the

superyacht A superyacht or megayacht is a large and luxurious pleasure vessel. There are no official or agreed upon definitions for such yachts, but these terms are regularly used to describe professionally crewed motor or sailing yachts, ranging from to ...

'' Kismet'' until he sold it to

Eric Schmidt Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and former computer engineer who was the chief executive officer of Google from 2001 to 2011 and the company's chairman, executive chairman from 2011 to 2015. He also was the ...

in September 2023, who renamed it to ''Whisper''. Khan built a new, larger superyacht in 2024 with the same Kismet name.

Awards and honors

Khan has received a number of awards from the University of Illinois, including a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999 from the Department of Mechanical Science and Industrial Engineering, the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service in 2006 from the College of Engineering, and (with his wife, Ann Carlson) the Distinguished Service Award in 2005 from the University of Illinois Alumni Association.

References

External links

Fulham F.C. profile

Jacksonville Jaguars profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Shahid 1950 births Living people All Elite Wrestling executives All Elite Wrestling personnel American billionaires American company founders American industrial engineers American manufacturing businesspeople American soccer chairmen and investors Businesspeople from Lahore Corporate executives in the automobile industry Engineers from Illinois Fulham F.C. directors and chairmen Jacksonville Jaguars owners Naturalized citizens of the United States Pakistani billionaires Pakistani company founders Pakistani emigrants to the United States Pakistani industrial engineers People from Urbana, Illinois Grainger College of Engineering alumni Muslims from Illinois 20th-century Pakistani engineers 21st-century Pakistani engineers