 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for biographies .(August 2018) |
Farooq Kathwari | |
|---|---|
 Kathwari in 2013 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1944 (age 80–81) |
| Education | University of Kashmir (BA) New York University (MBA) |
Farooq Kathwari (born 1944), is a Kashmiri-American businessman and philanthropist who is the Chairman, CEO, and President of Ethan Allen Interiors. [1] [2]
Kathwari was born in Srinagar, Kashmir, to a father from a long-time merchant family and a mother from one of the royal families of Kashmir. [3] In his teens, he was a passionate cricketer and later became the captain of the cricket team at his alma mater, Kashmir University, where he majored in literature and political science. [3] He emigrated to the United States in 1965, following his father, who had moved to New York in 1964. There, he went on to pursue a graduate degree in business at New York University, which he completed in 1968. [3]
His early career began modestly. He first took a job at a factory in Queens, which he believed produced shower stalls, but his employment ended quickly when he was dismissed upon receiving his first paycheck. [3] He then responded to a bookkeeping job advertisement, despite lacking prior knowledge of the field. [3] On his first day, a secretary provided him with a brief introduction to bookkeeping during the lunch break, enabling him to start the role. [3]
After receiving his graduate degree from NYU, he began his career as a financial analyst at Bear Stearns and later became a vice president at New Court Securities. [3] Alongside his finance career, he operated a business importing handicrafts from Kashmir, which were sold wholesale to Bloomingdale’s. [3]
In the early 1970s, he established a partnership with Ethan Allen to supply Kashmiri crewelwork for the company’s upholstery fabrics, creating a firm called KEA International. [3] Ethan Allen acquired the company in 1980 and appointed Kathwari as a vice president. He advanced to executive vice president in 1983, president and chief operating officer in 1985, and was named chairman and chief executive officer in 1988. [3]
He has been leading Ethan Allen Interiors since 1985, and four years later he formed a group to purchase Ethan Allen from Interco, a conglomerate, and subsequently took the company public. Under Kathwari's leadership, Ethan Allen Interiors has been transformed into a leading manufacturer and retailer of home furnishings in the United States.
Farooq Kathwari is married to Farida, who is also from Kashmir. They have 2 sons, one of whom was killed while visiting Jalalabad, Afghanistan, during the Afghan Civil War, and a daughter. [4] [5] They live in New Rochelle, New York. He also owns a fruit farm in Columbia County, New York. [6]