Shahid Rafiq "Shad" Khan ( ur, ; 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 chose to set it apart from other news programs by using a unique styl ...

'' profile of Khan (aired October 28, 2012) is a Pakistani-American billionaire businessman and sports tycoon. He is the owner of Flex-N-Gate, an American supplier of motor vehicle components. Khan is also the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) and Fulham F.C. of the , and co-owner of the American wrestling promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW), along with his son, Tony Khan. Khan was featured on the front cover of '' Forbes'' magazine in 2012, associating him as the face of the American Dream. As of March 2023, Khan's personal net worth is $12.1 billion. In 2021, he ranked 94th in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans, and is the 291st richest person in the world. Khan is the richest auto parts magnate ahead of

Georg F. W. Schaeffler Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Schaeffler (born 19 October 1964) is a German billionaire businessman and owner of 80% of the holding company INA Holding Schaeffler GmbH & Co. KG, which includes Schaeffler AG. His mother, Maria-Elisabeth Schaeffler, own ...

who has a net worth of $9.1 billion. He is also the wealthiest person of Pakistani origin.

Early life and education

Khan was born in Lahore, Pakistan, to a middle-class family involved in the construction industry. His mother (now retired) was a professor of mathematics, and his father Rafiq Khan used to have 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.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''. 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, 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 fraternity that was founded in 1839 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. One of North America's oldest fraternities, as of 2022 it consists of 144 active chapters in the Unite ...

fraternity at the school. He graduated from the

Grainger College of Engineering The Grainger College of Engineering is the engineering college of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. It was established in 1868 and is considered one of the original units of the school. Every engineering program in the college is ...

with a BSc in industrial engineering 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 The College of Applied Health Sciences (AHS), formerly known as the College of Applied Life Studies, is an undergraduate and graduate school at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, ...

(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 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. Khan grew the company so that it supplied bumpers for the Big Three automakers. In 1984, he began supplying a small number of bumpers for Toyota 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 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 major 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-Dem ...

'', February 11, 2010. 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'' 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 fined Flex-N-Gate $57,000 for health violations at its Urbana plant. Before the

2012 NFL Draft The 2012 NFL draft was the 77th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible American football players for their rosters. The draft, which is officially called the "NFL Player Selection Meeting", was held ...

, the United Automobile Workers (UAW) and other environmentalist groups organized a campaign for several accusations against Flex-N-Gate and Khan.

Sport and entertainment

Jacksonville Jaguars

Khan's first attempt to purchase a National Football League team came on February 11, 2010, when he entered into an agreement to acquire 60% of the then- St. Louis Rams from

Chip Rosenbloom Dale "Chip" Rosenbloom (born July 3, 1964) is an American filmmaker, known for '' Shiloh'', '' Across the Tracks'', and '' Fuel''. He has produced twenty-five films and television movies. He was the co-owner and vice chairman of the Los Angel ...

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 Jacksonville Jaguars from

Wayne Weaver J. Wayne Weaver (born January 14, 1935) is an American businessman. He owns the shoe store chains Shoe Carnival and Nine West, and was the first owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League (NFL) from 1993 to 2011. Biography ...

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, Florida. 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 The National Football League (NFL) Foundation, previously known as NFL Charities, is a non-profit making charitable organization, established by the member clubs of the National Football League (NFL) in 1973. It enables the clubs to collectively ...

. 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 metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

, born in South Korea, and Zygi Wilf of the Minnesota Vikings, born in Germany.

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 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

club Fulham F.C. of the Premier League from its previous owner,

Mohamed Al Fayed Mohamed Al-Fayed (; arz, محمد الفايد ; born 27 January 1929) is an Egyptian-born businessman whose residence and chief business interests have been in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. His business interests include ownership of ...

. 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 All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Tony Khan is also the President and CEO of the promotion.

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

. 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, and the superyacht '' Kismet''. He also has an apartment in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood.

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 Engineering education is the activity of teaching knowledge and principles to the professional practice of engineering. It includes an initial education (bachelor's and/or master's degree), and any advanced education and specializations that ...

, and (with his wife, Ann Carlson) the Distinguished Service Award in 2005 from the

University of Illinois Alumni Association The University of Illinois System is a system of public universities in Illinois consisting of three universities: University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, University of Illinois Springfield, Springfield, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champ ...

References

External links

Fulham F.C. bio

Jacksonville Jaguars bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khan, Shahid 1950 births Living people All Elite Wrestling executives All Elite Wrestling personnel American billionaires American people of Pakistani descent 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