Mir Ibrahim Rahman | |
---|---|
Born | Karachi, Pakistan | 11 March 1977
Education | Karachi American School |
Alma mater | Babson College, Harvard Kennedy School |
Occupation(s) | Co-founder and CEO of Geo TV (2002– present) |
Board member of | Mir Khalil ur Rahman Foundation |
Spouse | Sheena Hadi (m. 2008) |
Children | 2 |
Parent(s) | Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, Shahina Shakil |
Relatives | Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman (grandfather) |
Awards | Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service |
Mir Ibrahim Rahman (born 11 March 1977) is a Pakistani media proprietor who is the chief executive officer of the Geo Television Network. [1] [2]
Mir Ibrahim Rahman was born on 11 March 1977 in Karachi, to media mogul father Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and mother Shahina Shakil, the oldest of nine children. He is of Kashmiri descent, as his paternal great-grandparents were from Kashmir Valley. [3]
Rahman studied at the Karachi American School and later moved to the United States, where he received a BBA degree from Babson College in 2000. In the U.S., he started his career as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs. In 2002, he returned to Pakistan and joined his family media business and subsequently launched Pakistan's first private news channel in the fall of 2002. In 2009, he returned to the U.S and received his Master of Public Administration degree from the Harvard Kennedy School in 2010. [4] [5]
He is a recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service for his contribution towards the Lawyers' Movement. He was named World Economic Forum's Young Global Leaders in 2011. [6]
In 2000, Rahman graduated summa cum laude from Babson College with honours in economics, finance and entrepreneurship. After his graduation, he worked as an investment banker with Goldman Sachs specialising in media and telecom. After a brief stint with the investment banking and securities firm, he returned to Pakistan in 2002. [7]
Until 2002, the electronic media in Pakistan was largely dominated by state-owned institutions like Pakistan Television Corporation and the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation. This monopoly was thwarted when the Musharraf regime regulated electronic media allowing for private television channels to be operated independently. It was during this liberalisation of the media in Pakistan that Rahman saw an opportunity to expand his family business.
In 2002, he co-founded the privately owned television network, Geo TV. What started as a 5-member operation out of a hotel room turned into one of largest television broadcast networks in Pakistan. Geo TV was later recognised as a pertinent driver of change in the media landscape of the country. "Geo has changed Pakistan's media landscape, consistently challenging the monopoly-and monotony of state-run Pakistan Television, or PTV." [8] "For the first time, analysts say, television in Pakistan is reflecting this predominantly Muslim country's diverse society and offering an independent source of news." [8] Rahman has since served as the CEO of the television network that now employs more than 2,500 workers across the globe.
In 2009, he joined the Harvard University John F Kennedy School of Government while pursuing his master's degree in public administration. [7] He later had to take a sabbatical alongside his wife Sheena following her pregnancy. [9] Sheena was also a fellow Harvard alumni pursuing her master's degree in education. Rahman also serves as a member of the Young presidents' Organization in Pakistan, a charter member of the Indus Entrepreneur and the director of Mir Khalil ur Rahman Foundation. [10]
In 2010, Rahman and his television network were recognised for their "contribution in the historical Lawyers' Movement that revived independent judiciary in Pakistan". [5] He became the first Muslim and the second South Asian to receive the prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service from the Harvard Kennedy School.[ citation needed ]
Mir Ibrahim Rahman belongs to a prominent media family. He is the eldest son of the media mogul and philanthropist Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, and the grandson of newspaper magnate Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman. His extended family owns the Jang Group, one of the largest group of newspapers in Pakistan. [14]
Rahman met Sheena Hadi during college at the Harvard Kennedy School in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The two eventually got married and have two children together, a daughter named Asha and a son named Mikayel. [9]
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