Latifur Rahman (28 August 1945 – 1 July 2020) was a Bangladeshi

business magnate A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and

media mogul A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...

. He served as the founding chairman and CEO of

Transcom Group Transcom Group Limited is a Bangladeshi business conglomerate. The businesses under this group include beverage, pharmaceuticals, newspaper, radio channel, electronics, foods, etc. Transcom is the local agent or comprador of international bra ...

which deals with beverages, electrical and electronics products, pharmaceuticals, fast food, snacks and breakfast cereals, print media, FM radio and tea plantations mostly as the

comprador A comprador or compradore () is a "person who acts as an agent for foreign organizations engaged in investment, trade, or economic or political exploitation". A comprador is a Indigenous peoples, native manager for a European business house in East ...

of international brands like

Pizza Hut Pizza Hut is an American multinational restaurant chain and international franchise founded in 1958 in Wichita, Kansas by Dan and Frank Carney. They serve their signature pan pizza and other dishes including pasta, breadsticks and dessert at d ...

KFC KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) is an American fast food restaurant chain headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, that specializes in fried chicken. It is the world's second-largest restaurant chain (as measured by sales) after McDonald's, with 2 ...

Pepsi Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961. History Pepsi was ...

and

Philips Koninklijke Philips N.V. (), commonly shortened to Philips, is a Dutch multinational conglomerate corporation that was founded in Eindhoven in 1891. Since 1997, it has been mostly headquartered in Amsterdam, though the Benelux headquarters i ...

. He was the founding director of Mediaworld and Chairman of Mediastar, which owned The Daily Star and

Prothom Alo ''The Daily Prothom Alo'' ( bn, প্রথম আলো) is a daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali language. It is the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to National Media Survey 2018, conducte ...

newspapers respectively. Both are the nation's leading English and Bangla newspapers. Rahman received the ''Oslo Business for Peace Award 2012'' in 2012 for his recognition of business ethics and social responsibility.

Career

Rahman started his career as a trainee in 1966 in his family-owned jute mills in

Chandpur District Chandpur District () is a district located in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. It was a part of the Cumilla District until 15 February 1984.Musa, Muhammad. Brahmanbariar Itibrittyo, Shetu Prokashoni, Brahmanbaria,1998. History During the ru ...

. He worked as an executive in the mills until 1971. Rahman established Transcom Group in 1973 after ''W Rahman Jute Mills'', the main earning source for the Rahman family, was nationalised in 1972. In the 1980s, Rahman became the sole importer and distributor of

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other me ...

products in Bangladesh. In the 1990s, he bought

Smith, Kline & French Smith, Kline & French (SKF) was an American pharmaceutical company. History In 1830, John K. Smith opened a drugstore in Philadelphia, and his younger brother, George, joined him in 1841 to form John K Smith & Co. In 1865, Mahlon Kline joined ...

, a US-based pharmaceutical which had merged into

Beecham Group The Beecham Group plc was a British pharmaceutical company. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. Beecham, after having merged with American pharmaceutical company SmithKline Beckman to become SmithKline Beecham, merged with Glaxo We ...

, a British company, and renamed it Eskayef. Rahman was elected a member of the executive board of the

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

-based

International Chamber of Commerce The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC; French: ''Chambre de commerce internationale'') is the largest, most representative business organization in the world. Its over 45 million members in over 100 countries have interests spanning every s ...

for a three-year term in July 2014. He served as the president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCI), Dhaka. Rahman served as the Chairman of the following companies.

Awards

* Oslo Business for Peace Award by

Business for Peace Foundation Business for Peace (BfP) is a non-profit foundation based in Oslo, Norway. Each year, the foundation names up to seven Honourees who receive the Oslo Business for Peace Award, in recognition of their individual and business-worthy contribution to ...

(2012) * Business Executive of the Year by American Chamber of Commerce Bangladesh (2001) * A crest by the Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Dhaka The University of Dhaka (also known as Dhaka University, or DU) is a public research university located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is the oldest university in Bangladesh. The university opened its doors to students on July 1st 1921. Currently i ...

(2012)

Personal life

Rahman was married to Shahnaz Rahman. Together they had three daughters, Simeen Hossain, Shazneen Rahman, and Shahzreh Huq, and a son, Arshad Waliur Rahman. Simeen is a managing director of Eskayef Bangladesh Limited, Transcom Consumer Products Limited and Transcom Distribution Limited. Shazneen was killed at home in

Gulshan, Dhaka Gulshan ( bn, গুলশান) is a thana situated in Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is an affluent residential and business neighbourhood; and is now home to a number of the city's restaurants, shopping centres, schools, banks, members' clubs and ho ...

in 1998 by their household domestic helpers. Simeen's younger son, Faraaz Ayaaz Hossain, was killed in the 2016 Gulshan attack. Rahman died on 1 July 2020 at his residence at Chheora village in Chauddagram Upazila,

Cumilla Comilla (; bn, কুমিল্লা, Kumillā, ), officially spelled Cumilla, is the fifth largest city of Bangladesh and second largest in Chittagong division. It is the administrative centre of the Comilla District. The name Comilla was ...

aged 75. He was buried at Banani Graveyard in Dhaka.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rahman, Latifur 1945 births 2020 deaths People from Jalpaiguri People from Comilla District Bangladeshi businesspeople Bangladeshi_newspaper_proprietors Bangladeshi chairpersons of corporations Burials at Banani Graveyard Bangladeshi chief executives