Billionaire philanthropist and spiritual leader Aga Khan has died at the age of 88, his charity the Aga Khan Development Network has announced. Born Prince Karim Al-Hussaini, he was the 49th Aga Khan and the spiritual head of the Nizari Isma’ili sect. He assumed this role in 1957 at the age of 20, succeeding his grandfather. An announcement regarding his successor is expected in the coming days.
The Aga Khan Development Network released a statement expressing its condolences, stating that Prince Karim Aga Khan passed away peacefully in Lisbon on February 4, 2025, surrounded by his family. The statement also highlighted his role as the founder and chairman of the organisation and assured that the name of his designated successor would be disclosed soon. The Ismailis, a Muslim sect, have a worldwide population of about 15 million, including 500,000 in Pakistan. There are also large populations in India, Afghanistan and Africa. The Aga Khan, imam of the Ismailis and head of a major development aid foundation. He was the founder and president of the Aga Khan Development Network, which employs 96,000 people and finances development programmes particularly in Asia and Africa.
The Agha Khan development Network Present in multiple countries, notably in central and southern Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the Ismaili community numbers 12 to 15 million, according to its website. Moreover The Aga Khan’s charities ran hundreds of hospitals, educational and cultural projects, largely in the developing world.
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres described the Aga Khan as “a symbol of peace, tolerance and compassion in our troubled world” following the religious leader’s death.
Malala Yousafzai, Nobel Peace laureate and education campaigner, said his legacy will “live on through the incredible work he led for education, health and development around the world”.
According to reports the estimates of his wealth varied from $800 million to $13 billion, with his money coming from his family inheritance, his horse breeding business and his personal investments in tourism and real estate.
After his father died in May 1960, the Aga Khan initially pondered whether to continue his family’s long tradition of thoroughbred racing and breeding.
But after winning the French owners’ championship in his first season he was hooked.
“I have come to love it,” he said in a 2013 interview with Vanity Fair. “It’s so exciting, a constant challenge. Every time you sit down and breed you are playing a game of chess with nature.”
He became a leading owner and breeder of race horses in the UK, France and Ireland, breeding Shergar, once the most famous and most valuable racehorse in the world. His stables and riders, wearing his emerald-green silk livery, enjoyed great successes with horses like Sea the Stars, which won the Epsom Derby and the 2,000 Guineas; and Sinndar, which also won the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby and the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in the same year, 2000.
But perhaps his most famous horse was Shergar, which won the Epsom Derby, the Irish Derby and the King George, before being kidnapped in February 1983 from Ireland’s Ballymany stud farm. Furthermore, Despite losing his beloved horse, he told on the 30th anniversary of Shergar’s biggest triumph – that he did not contemplate deserting his Irish breeding operation.
