How tycoons acquire influence

Tycoon is an English word having roots in Japanese. In Japanese the word taikun means ‘great lord’. Today it refers to powerful businessman. Sociologist debates as to who is more powerful, whether it is wealthy people or people in top echelon of institutions.

Top business people acquire influence through various tools. First of all they have wealth which is form of power. They can use it to purchase loyalties of important people. They can use it in legitimate and illegitimate ways to acquire influence.

 Donation to political parties in order to acquire influence over them is an important way in which business people build and maintain their influence. It was considered legitimate for a long time. But now this has been severely criticized by general public. The movement against the influence of 1% has brought attention to the unfairness of the system. The rich generally donates to all major political parties. In this way they access power through elected representative.

Other options are hiring and employing retired military and civilian bureaucrats. By hiring important people retired after serving in upper echelon of institutions they can get a sway over their former institution.

Many military generals served different corporate giants. Defense contractors in USA are notorious for hiring retired people to further their own interest. This leads to rise in military industrial complex. Defense contractors make use of their influence to make sale of their weapons and equipment. It is not only defense contractors that make use of retired personnel’s influence. Leading private equity firms also hire retired people for example David Petraeus has been hired by a private equity firm.

Other tools are controlling stock market, manipulating currency market, and manipulating money market. The most powerful of this market is bond market which has power to affect interest rate in the economy.

 Wealthy business moguls also acquire stakes in media corporations. Many billionaires have stakes in media corporations. They also throw their influence by using the leverage of advertisement owing to their status as clients of the media house. In this way they alter the content broadcast on media.

When public oversight makes it difficult to acquire influence the top one percent starts investing outside the system. This includes investing in and financing outlawed groups.

Survival of family firms

List of Hundred oldest companies have been published. You can view it here. Many of the companies in the list are more than 3 centuries old. The oldest firm is more than 1300 years old and it is from Japan. Family-run firms contribute up to 90 percent of the world's economy. Many countries' economies are highly dependent on family businesses, including Germany, the U.K. and Singapore. Leading student of capitalism always mentioned that with the advent of industrial capitalism family firms will disappear. For much of the previous century they proved right but now many family firms are defying their predictions.

This trend can be seen in number of family firms among fortune 500 companies. Family companies in fortune 500 companies have risen from 15% in 2005 to 19% this year. This trends show the rising importance of family firms. This rise can be largely attributed to rise of emerging economies. In emerging economies the institution of family is still strong. For example in India there is joint family system which successfully survived many centuries. Same is the case in many Arabian countries where dynasties are not only ruling in the business world but also in the political world. In Europe same trend can be witnessed as nearly 40% of listed companies are controlled by families.

Unlike the past now family firms groom their successors to manage effectively. They put them in tough and long series of experiment. Young one has to work from most humble position to the highest position available in the family firms.  This reduces the chances of management falling in wrong hands.

Like old money landlord families, before the advent of industrial capitalism, many of the family firms today transferred the family values which help them keep the family wealth in family hands. Inter-cousin marriage, which is common in many emerging economies, helps transfer the shared values to next generation. Another factor which let the family companies survive is the availability of entire consulting industry to plan succession and tackle the inheritance problems.  

Now the family firms are not only taking care of family fortune but also families’ human capital as well. Rich and old money families educate their young ones in best business institutions. Competition among family members further keeps the family members pressurized to perform the best.

According to wealth reports the largest transfer of wealth from one generation to another is going to happen in coming years. The control of huge fortunes may transfer hands. Many people will become millionaire without working their way to riches. This can bring back the old aristocratic age when people advanced in their lives on the basis of heredity status, rather than hard work and merit.

Old money families

Old money is any person or family possessing inherited wealth. Generally it is said shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generation. In other cultures it is said from clogs to clogs in three generations. Similar proverbs convey the same meaning across different cultures.

But there are some old money families who have inherited huge assets. The major portion of old money family comes from landed aristocracy in Europe and other parts of world. The political power of aristocracy doomed as prices of agricultural product fell.

Maintaining old money has become more and more difficult as inheritance taxes has been levied in many countries. Below is a list of some of the families who successfully managed to keep their fortunes in family over a large period of time.

Old Money in United States

Rockefeller family

Rockefeller family fortune was made during late 19th and early 20th century. They made their fortune from oil industry primarily through Standard Oil.

Du Pont family 

Du Pont family has been ranked as richest families of United States by Forbes magazine. Their wealth dates back to mid 1800s.

Forbes family

Forbes family acquired its riches from trading between North America and China. This is an influential family whose members are active in American politics. Well known name is John Kerry, who is United States secretary of state.

But old money in United States is not too old. Below is a list showing old money families from various parts of world.

Old money in other parts of world. 

Old money in other parts is too old. Some claim that their fortunes were made during 12th century.

Spinola family of Genoa

Spinola family is an Italian family. It remained powerful during thirteenth century. Castle Tassarolo is their residence. Their fortune successfully survived many centuries.

Goulaine family

 This is old money French family.

This family owns Château de Goulain for more than 1000 years.

Royal family of Udaipur. 

This family is world's oldest serving dynasty in India.

Scindia family of Gwalior 

This was ruling family of princely state Gwalior. Jyotiraditya Madhavrao Scindia is known to own more than 3 billion us dollars. This family is prominent for more than 270 years.

Rathor family of Jodhpur.

 This is another royal family from India having fabulous wealth for many generations.

House of Thurn and Taxis

This house is from Germany. The family is known for breweries and building castles. The head of the family has been listed as billionaire many times.

House of Hanover

Prince Ernst August is current head and is estimated to own 500 million pounds.

Nawab of Bahawalpur.

 The abbasi family of Bahawalpur governed princely state until their powers were abolished. This family owns many properties. The Punjab University building was gifted by this family. Sadiq Garh Palace in Dera Nawab Sahib was built by this family.

PAKISTAN'S POWERFUL LANDLORDS

Pakistan has the largest land holdings in the region. At the time of partition both Pakistan and India inherited feudal class. But India after independence made land reforms. While in Pakistan the land reforms failed to curb large individual land holdings. 

5% landlords own 64% of agricultural land

The cultivable land remained concentrated in few hands.
5 percent landlords owns 64 percent of farm land while 50.8 percent rural house hold are landless.

The largest land holdings prevails in the regions of southern Punjab, Balochistan, and rural Sindh. For example there are 74 sardars (land lords) in Baluchistan famous for their power and land holdings.


Some of the glimpses of large landholding can be seen as below.

During the nineties Ghulam Muhammad Mehr, died in 1995, was biggest landlord in Pakistan. He owned 100,000 acres of agricultural land at that time. 

Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi another landlord owned 80,000 acres of land.

According to recent declaration by Pakistani senator Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri, he owns 53,000 acres of agricultural land. The declaration states that this land is inherited land and needs to be distributed.

The family of Hina Rabbani Khar owns more than 1500 acres of land.

This sort of land holdings on one side and landlessness on other side is giving rise to disparity between rich and poor. Fair distribution of land is necessary for poverty alleviation in rural ares. Government of Field Marshal Ayyub Khan and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto tried to make land reforms. But all three reforms failed to bring meaningful change. The reforms introduced ceiling on land holding by individuals.

When land reforms imposed ceiling on individual's land ownership, many large landowners transferred their land in the name of other family members. Owing to existence of large joint families, land reforms are bound to fail. So a workable solution can be distributing Governmental lands to poor peasants.

Distributing public land in small lots will improve productivity. Small farms produce high per acre yield than produced by farms above 5 acres. The yield per acre will increase if lands are distributed to peasants. 


related link
Ghulam Muhammad Meh
Mir Israrullah Khan Zehri
Power of land
Balochistan's 74 sardaras
Hina Rabbani Khar's family land

Cybersecurity Billionaire Ashar Aziz Butt

Ashar Aziz Butt is founder, CTO and chief strategy officer of cybersecurity firm, FireEye. FireEye provides companies with technology and services to protect them against malwares and cyber attacks.
For a short duration Ashar Aziz, being the largest individual shareholder of the company became cybersecurity billionaire. He is the son of Asghar Butt, renowned Editor of the leading daily ‘The Nation’ and a former Pakistani bureaucrat.

Aziz's previous venture was Terraspring, which was later acquired by sun microsystem, a company where Aziz  worked for 12 years. Today Aziz is one of the top experts in internet and computer security. He is the original inventor of the set of technologies used by FireEye.
Owing to his holding in the cybersecrity giant, his net worth in the month of march 2014 jumped slightly more than a billion us dollars, as the share of his company hit 96$. His billionaire status was quickly taken away by a fall in the share price. Recently his company's share lost considerable value. His company's share is currently valued at 27.53$. This makes his net worth at 269.548 million dollars. At present he holds 9,791,096 shares of FireEye Inc.
 His company has acquired another company nPulse Technologies. In January the company acquired Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm based in Alexandria, for $1 billion.
Aziz holds Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Master's in computer science from University of California, Berkeley. He has one brother named Dr. Ahmer Aziz Butt.

Pakistan's top tax payers

FBR, Pakistan’s Tax collecting agency has recently issued the list of top tax payers in the country. Pakistani tax laws provide for 4 categories of tax payers. Following are the categories

Salaried individuals,

Non-salaried individuals,

AOP, and

Company

The tax payers include top executives, entrepreneurs and high net worth individuals.

Following is the list provided by the FBR.

Salaried Individuals:

Tariq Nisar, tax payable/paid Rs189,910,478; Mohammad Naeem Mukhtar, Rs159,149,750; Muhammad Waseem Mukhtar, Rs158,858,269; Hassan Mansha, Rs149,423,639; Sheikh Mukhtar Ahmed, Rs147,855,957, Sohail Nisar, Rs105,657,657;

Khalil A Sattar, Rs93,288,432; Anjum Nisar, Rs80,983,805; Arif Habib, Rs80,681,004; Madiha Mehmood Moulvi, Rs67,582,338; Mian Umer Mansha, Rs64,828,437; Muhammad Yasin Malik, Rs58,599,486; Iqbal Alimohamed, Rs58,168,344; Fazal Ahmed Sheikh, Rs55,751,010; Muhammad Shoaib, Rs54,717,751; Rafiuddin Zakir Mahmood, Rs54,312,821; Faisal Mukhtar, Rs 54,167,795; Shuaib Anwer Malik, Rs51,076,156; Arpad Konye, Rs49,862,638; Waqar A. Malik, Rs44,415,066; Syed Babar Ali, Rs43,505,178; Uzair Saboor, Rs41,266,844; Aftab Faizullah Tapal, Rs40,097,924; Pervaiz Afzal Khan, Rs39,578,741; Mohammad Anwar Pervez, Rs38,733,282; Saima Shab Malik, Rs36,638,766; Atif Bajwa, Rs36,020,888; Mian Raza Mansha, Rs

34,969,949; Shamim Ahmed, Rs 33,562,048;

Atif Riaz Bokhari, Rs 33,112,789; Naved Abid Khan, Rs 32,303,687; Rashid Naseer Khan, Rs

31,966,552; Ricardo Guillermo Cordova Alban, Rs 31,352,079; Malik Amanat Khan, Rs30,963,744; Hussain Dawood, Rs29,993,841; Naushaba Khalil, Rs29,837,249; Syed Ali Javaid Hamdani, Rs29,745,236; Iqbal Ali Lakhani, Rs29,625,310; Fawad Ahmed Mukhtar, Rs29,546,012; Adil Khalil Sattar, Rs28,133,957; Amin Mohammad Lakhani, Rs26,870,151; Sikandar Mustafa Khan, Rs26,224,754; Siraj Jaffrani, Rs26,223,089; M. Farhan Hanif, Rs25,617,840; Saad Iqbal, Rs25,445,391; Zameer Mohammad Choudrey, Rs

25,320,022; Abid Hussain, Rs24,901,110; Syed Ali Akbar, Rs24,758,615; Junaid Shamim, Rs24,721,681; Shoaib Shamim, Rs24,085,957; Ovais Shamim, Rs23,918,738; Irfan Siddiqi, Rs

23,729,898; Zubair Shamim, Rs23,355,326; Laeeq Ud Din Ansari, Rs23,213,655; Arshad Riaz Fazail, Rs23,072,138; Mohammad Shoaib, Rs22,878,391; Abdul Salam, Rs22,642,265; Shahzad, Rs

21,935,820; Naz Mansha, Rs21,825,381; Shahbaz Yasin Malik, Rs21,256,927; Lars Christian Luel, Rs21,142,743; Badar Kazmi, Rs21,138,926; Naveed Arshad Fazail, Rs21,129,653; Dr M.S. Habib, Rs

20,862,016; Roar Bjaerum, Rs20,720,722; SM Kashif Qaseem Ud Din, Rs20,637,695; Grame Douglas Amey, Rs20,578,984; Kumail Aftab Tapal, Rs20,436,264; Muhammad Ali Tabba, Rs20,240,800; Amin A Hashwani, Rs20,162,114; Mehvish A Tapal, Rs20,000,593; Liubov Guskova, Rs19,813,634; Nauman K Dar, Rs19,688,632; Rashida Tapal, Rs19,663,377; Abdul Hameed Agar, Rs19,506,793; Farzana Firoz, Rs19,498,174; Andre Nel, Rs19,473,633; Jehangir Firoz, Rs19,124,263; Sohail Bashir Rana, Rs18,814,094; Aurangzeb Firoz, Rs18,520,588; Abdul Aziz, Rs

18,516,069; Shahid Yasin Malik, Rs18,463,355; Anwaar Ahmad Khan, Rs18,137,263; Jahangir Khan Tareen, Rs18,130,622; Ehsan Ali Malik,

Rs17,885,412; Imtiaz Hamad Khan, Rs17,859,328; Karl Erik Broten, Rs17,435,358; Peter Day, Rs

17,328,403; Ahmed Khizer Khan, Rs17,127,375; Muhammad Rafique, Rs17,048,424; Latif Khalid Hashmi, Rs16,996,864; Abdul Razzak S Dawood, Rs16,779,806; Fawad Yousuf, Rs16,667,383; Umair Amanullah, Rs16,487,173; Jhon Seward, Rs

16,434,922; Aftab Ahmad Khan, Rs16,399,329; Danish Iqbal, Rs15,857,529; Asif Jooma, Rs

15,721,467; Tariq Khamisani, Rs15,376,005; Javed Iqbal, Rs15,346,500; Babur Sultan, Rs15,309,994

Non-Salaried Individuals

Irfan Usman, Tax Payable/Paid Rs749,008,253; Wazir Ali Pardhan, Rs210,332,864; Tariq Rafi, Rs

174,246,502; Muhammad Irfan Ghazi, Rs

117,179,385; Sh Jhanzeb Jilani, Rs104,780,291; Abdullah A. Hashwani, Rs100,131,932; Sheikh Wajahat Ali, Rs98,363,593; Farrukh Ijaz, Rs96,964,775; Muhammad Akram Khan Panazai, Rs95,509,632; Iqbal Ahmad Qarshi, Rs84,362,395; Muhammad Ameen, Rs83,375,785; Asifa Malik, Rs80,634,780; Iqbal Naeem, Rs78,390,180; Sher Muhammad Mugheri, Rs77,243,231; Sabir Hussain, Rs75,084,388; Farhan Hanif, Rs

73,142,703; Alam Khan, Rs71,051,166; Siddik S.Jaangda, Rs68,574,255; Aamir Zia, Rs68,125,766; Falak Sher Awan, Rs66,678,108; Haji Sirajuddin, Rs66,324,515; Abdul Samad, Rs63,628,741; Ali Mehboob, Rs57,477,619; Ali Jehangir Siddiqui, Rs57,249,652; Syed Abdul Manan, Rs56,447,033; Nelofar Sikandar, Rs53,529,363; Qalander Bux Abro, Rs53,356,908;

Muhammad Tehreem Shamim, Rs 53,083,878; Tariq Chobdar, Rs52,575,479; Muhammad Aneeq Siddiqui, Rs52,488,217; S.M. Ashfaq, Rs52,216,103; Shahid Ansari, Rs52,048,375; Malik Muhammad Mukarram, Rs51,886,071; Muhammad Dawood, Rs49,725,378; Liaquat Ali Gondal, Rs49,282,666; Rabnawaz, Rs48,660,492; Manzoor Hussain, Rs47,612,252; Muhukum Uddin Solangi, Rs46,964,804; Muhammad Riaz, Rs 45,463,685; Mohammad Saleem, Rs44,922,249; Abdul Jabbar, Rs44,674,656; Muhammad Waris Panhwar, Rs44,344,256; Muhammad Akbar Sheikh, Rs44,289,527; Ejaz Ahmed Dogar, Rs 43,709,625; Muhammad Tariq Butt, Rs42,422,376; Sabz Ali, Rs39,793,113; Naeem Ali Muhammad Munshi, Rs38,927,581; Nisar Ahmed Dogar. Rs

38,563,185; Amin Muhammad Lakhani, Rs38,517,189; Mian Mohammad Jahangir, Rs

37,834,401; Muhammad Usman, Rs37,529,538; Saifullah Mangat, Rs37,463,832; Muhammad Atif Butt, Rs37,328,546; Dilawar Hussain, Rs37,166,425; Mohammad Umair Kara, Rs

36,898,227; Ahmad Ghezal Usmani, Rs

36,181,766; Abdul Waheed Shaikh, Rs35,700,855; Zeeshan Arshad, Rs35,540,911; Ammil Raza Mansha, Rs35,521,875; Niamatullah, Rs35,187,558; Ayoob Eusoof, Rs35,076,600; Wajid Iqbal, Rs34,814,616; Anil Kumar, Rs34,725,317; Pervaiz Shakeel, Rs34,610,484; Mohammed Ahmed Chobdar, Rs 34,414,163; Sultan Ali Kamruddin, Rs34,294,574; Mansoor Ahmed Soomro, Rs 33,880,026; Mohammed Sabir, Rs

33,847,558; Zamir Ahmed Qureshi, Rs33,536,504; Aziz Hasan Jillani, Rs33,486,038; Faisar Mehmood, Rs33,435,252; Maqbool Ahmed Soomro, Rs 33,339,191; Muhammad Rafique, Rs

33,302,711; Muhammad Atif, Rs33,251,530; Shakir Ahmed, Rs33,235,379; Imran, Rs33,235,379; Amir Amin Kothawala, Rs 32,939,226; Zaitun H. Jan Muhammad, Rs

32,852,562; Zahid Amin Sethi, Rs32,830,957; Zor Alam, Rs32,574,385; Saleem Zakaria, Rs

32,521,971; Shahid Majeed, Rs32,294,104; Khan Ayaz Khan, Rs32,256,830; Muhammad Kashif, Rs

31,683,423; Malik Mushtaq Ahmed, Rs31,606,421; Jahangir Siddiqui, Rs31,566,375; Mohammad Shakeel, Rs 31,512,743, Gulbano Hasan Ali, Rs 31,213,846; Ebrahim Qassim, Rs31,183,290; Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh, Rs30,863,501; Abdul Qader, Rs30,565,958; Ronaq Iqbal Ali Lakhani, Rs 30,444,703; Waqas Aftab, Rs

30,297,262; Mumtaz Ali Chandio, Rs

30,136,960; Shazia Arif, Rs29,734,662; Mohammad Najeeb Haroon, Rs29,625,113; Mohammad Muqeet, Rs29,542,025; Iftikhar Ahmed, Rs29,439,873; Muhammad Farooq, Rs

29,273,343; Rasheed Khan, Rs29,185,972

ASSOCIATION OF PERSONS

LTHJV, Tax Payable/Paid Rs496,882,503; United Agro Chemical, Rs 464,893,376; Limak Jv Zkb, Rs

424,226,717; Zahir Khan & Brothers, Rs384,895,596; Chawla International, Rs

357,433,819; Advance Telecom, Rs231,960,765; Kingcrete Builders, Rs223,181,907; United Mobiles, Rs 217,779,874; Triple Tree Associates, Rs210,177,344; Descon-Ccc Joint Venture, Rs 172,649,975; Wr Edible Oil Refinery, Rs 171,263,860; Zafar Enterprises, Rs 153,574,140; A.F. Ferguson And Co., Rs 140,711,931; Dbh Joint Venture Projects, Rs134,749,136; Habib Construction - Ikan Jv, Rs134,280,851; Saadullah Khan & Brothers Engineering & Construction, Rs

126,851,510; S.M. Jaffer & Company, Rs

124,614,948; Eko -Krc (Joint Venture), Rs

119,052,042; Niaz Muhammad Khan And Brothers, Rs110,160,293; Rajby Industries, Rs

97,768,036; M Irfan M Aamir Construction (Mima Construction), Rs96,714,838; Haji Muhammad Shabir Ch. Nazir & Co., Rs 86,687,866; Ernst & Young Ford Rhodes Sidat Hyder., Rs84,726,066; Kpmg Taseer Hadi & Co., Rs82,480,509; Tayyab Manzoor Tarar, Rs 79,850,001; Wazir Ali & Company, Rs73,728,419; Teletec Enterprises, Rs

68,875,982; Werrick Pharmaceuticals, Rs63,469,852; Nkke (Jv), Rs62,314,770; Sparco-Clic Joint Venture, Rs61,830,419; Shafique Brothers And Company, Rs60,582,986; Muhammad Ramzan & Company, Rs59,054,448; Wilsons Pharmaceuticals, Rs57,162,719; S. Ejaz Ud Din & Company, Rs56,832,072; Crescent Corporation, Rs55,759,206; Hantex, Rs54,940,039; Khattak Allied Construction Company, Rs53,967,219; Gourmet Foods, Rs

52,874,139; Saadat International, Rs51,873,837; Neie-Lac (Joint Venture), Rs51,183,579; Aman Autos, Rs 50,193,912; Al-Kamal International, Rs

50,080,044; Chief Machinery Corporation, Rs

48,013,666; Haji Abdul Sattar & Co, Rs46,641,618; Green Stone Corporation, Rs46,547,076; Multilynx, Rs 45,152,140; Friends Enterprises, Rs

45,108,210; Pakistan Rubber & Tyre Co, Rs

43,859,437; Kamal Textile Mills, Rs 42,625,533; Shafiq Construction Company, Rs 42,493,372; U.M Enterprises, Rs 42,140,749; United Towel Exporters, Rs 42,138,805; GKG, Rs 41,812,402; Jamaluddin & Company, Rs 41,724,427; Iftikhar & Company Contractors, Rs 40,953,982; Baba Enterprises, Rs 40,366,018; Nafcon Construction,

40,040,147; Elcon Associates, Rs 39,801,538; Muhammad Faisal Ghafoor, Rs 39,005,768; RMC Construction Company, Rs 38,391,730; Inland Construction Company, Rs 36,882,648; Unique Trading Company, Rs36,550,945; Imran Ship Breaking Co., Rs36,355,040; Qasim Khan & Company, Rs35,832,614; Construct, Rs35,492,899; Kazi Nisar Ahmed Pirzada & Co, Rs35,445,003; Al-Hamza Trading Company, Rs35,236,187; Fashion Knit Industries, Rs34,394,033; S.S. Enterprises, Rs34,226,571; Riaalaw, Rs 34,149,093; Choudhery Construction Company, Rs

33,647,308; Shaheen Freight Services, Rs

33,641,143; Ch Engineers Associates, Rs 33,252,943; Ss Fashion Resources, Rs 33,251,530; Plastochem Corporation, Rs32,595,465; Rachna Agri Business, Rs32,553,140; Sattar Electronics,

32,135,867; Jubilee Corporation, Rs 30,136,384; Advance Business Systems, Rs 30,109,915; Zahoor Die Casting Co., Rs30,072,930; Kaghan Trading Company, Rs30,067,098; Kanpa International Sales, Rs29,809,227; Adamjee Enterprises, Rs

29,632,055; National Tent House, Rs29,498,725; Aq Enteprises, Rs29,480,328; Zain Ul Abideen And Sons, Rs29,398,532; The Legend, Rs29,342,277; Al-Hamza Trading & Ship Breaking Company, Rs29,321,325; A & B Productions, Rs

28,904,812; Asif Brothers, Rs28,877,725; Pinggao-Potential Jv, Rs28,555,197; Transfab, Rs

28,297,503; Haji Said Muhammad And Sons, Rs

28,239,681; Amir Rice Traders, Rs28,105,446; M. Yahya M. Yousuf Bari, Rs27,243,493; Iqbal Rice Mills, Rs26,924,165; Agro Industrial Solutions, Rs

26,867,009; Shaheen Enterprises, Rs26,554,220; Dha Bahria Town Joint Venture Project, Rs

26,540,772; Cot Link International, Rs

26,388,916; Hub Pak Salt Refinery, Rs26,104,853

Companies

Oil And Gas Development Company Limited, Tax Payable/Paid Rs36,963,745,646; Pakistan Petroleum Limited, Rs15,404,269,282; Habib Bank Limited, Rs11,786,705,153; Government Holdings (Private) Limited, Rs10,756,321,121; Fauji Fertilizer Company Limited, Rs 9,898,049,256; Muslim Commercial Bank Limited, Rs9,589,120,400; Pakistan State Oil Company Limited; Rs7,946,259,287; United Bank Limited, Rs6,588,129,067; Pak-Arab Refinery Limited, Rs

6,213,915,419; Eni Pakistan Limited, Rs

5,145,178,569; Civil Aviation Authority, Rs

5,100,197,646; National Bank Of Pakistan, Rs

4,486,609,700; Kot Addu Power Company Limited, Rs3,916,656,945; Bhp Petroleum Pakistan Pty Limited, Rs 3,456,964,686; Allied Bank Of Pakistan Limited, Rs3,358,099,795; Bank Al-Habib Limited, Rs3,197,816,366; Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Rs3,140,132,933; Pakistan Oilfields Limited, Rs2,739,043,233; Kirthar Pakistan B. V., Rs2,682,810,578; Unilever Pakistan Limited, Rs2,353,785,690; Habib Metropolitan Bank Limited, Rs2,209,280,571; Pepsi-Cola International (Pvt) Limited, Rs

2,175,666,033; Eni Pakistan (M) Limited S.A.R.L, Rs 2,139,436,878; Standard Chartered Bank (Pakistan) Limited, Rs2,050,011,450; Fauji Fertilizer Bin Qasim Limited, Rs2,046,773,876; United Energy Pakistan Limited, Rs1,876,002,340; Indus Motor Company Limited, Rs1,822,993,007; Eni Aep Limited, Rs1,728,376,093; Attock Petroleum Limited, Rs1,659,963,223; Mari Petroleum Company Limited, Rs1,616,940,173; Bank Alfalah Limited, Rs1,539,981,471; Nestle Pakistan Limited, Rs1,498,936,479; Meezan Bank Limited., Rs 1,427,078,960; Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited, Rs 1,414,868,346; Omv (Pakistan) Exploration Gesellschaft M.B.H., Rs1,385,103,872; KP Exploration 2 Limited, Rs 1,294,291,629; Qasim International Container Terminal Pakistan Limited, Rs 1,293,414,906; Chevron Pakistan Limited, Rs 1,231,140,751; Pkp Exploration Limited, Rs 1,168,372,650; Karachi International Container Terminal Limited, Rs 1,162,191,804; Fauji Foundation, Rs 1,094,064,396; Shell Pakistan Limited, Rs 1,085,084,121; National Refinery Limited, Rs 1,065,977,142; Millat Tractors Limited., Rs 1,043,149,828; Tapal Tea (Private) Limited, Rs 1,025,292,744; Al-Ghazi Tractors Limited, Rs 960,833,557; Pakistan Security Printing Corporation (Private) Limited, Rs

960,367,365; Pkp Kirthar 2 B.V, Rs 950,543,986; Abbott Laboratories Pakistan Limited, Rs 895,030,776; Rafhan Maize Products Company Limited, Rs 876,938,659; The Attock Oil Company Limited, Rs 857,052,275; Pkp Kadanwari 2 Limited, Rs 818,143,871; Presson Descon International (Private) Limited, Rs 807,783,382, Askari Bank Limited, Rs 769,993,779; Colgate-Palmolive (Pakistan) Limited, Rs738,675,258; Procter & Gamble Pakistan (Private) Limited, Rs

669,685,838; Nishat Mills Limited, Rs

668,373,334; Pakistan Refinery Limited, Rs

662,120,349; Descon Engineering Limited, Rs

660,231,773; PKP KIRTHAR B. V., Rs

651,803,541; Khadija Edible Oil Refinery Pvt Limited, Rs648,397,015; Glaxo Smithkline Pakistan Limited, Rs640,940,231; Huawei Technologies Pakistan (Private) Limited, Rs

637,939,012; Pepsico Investments Europe I.B.V, Rs

626,847,327; Pakistan Tobacco Company Limited, Rs613,558,083; Kufpec (Pakistan) B.V, Rs606,366,866; Thal Limited, Rs604,025,223; Lucky Cement Limited, Rs593,207,938; MOL PAKISTAN OIL & GAS COMPANY B. V., Rs

581,818,532; PKP Kadanwari Limited, Rs

563,813,985; Getz Pharma (Private) Limitted, Rs

555,996,520; Attock Cement Pakistan Limited, Rs

555,898,652; Dawlance Electronics (Private) Limited, Rs554,129,798; Educational Services (Private) Limited, Rs531,655,881; The Coca-Cola Export Corporation, Rs524,887,388; PAK SUZUKI MOTOR CO. LIMITED, Rs513,605,147; Pakistan Mobile Communications Limited, Rs

509,356,994; Unilever Overseas Holding Limited, Rs500,555,433; Atlas Honda Limited, Rs

494,413,732; Efu Life Assurance Limited, Rs

477,548,482; United Refrigeration Industries Limited, Rs476,091,352; Cargill Pakistan Agri Foods (Private) Limited, Rs455,658,203; Novartis Pharma (Pakistan) Limited, Rs445,673,972; Mapak Edible Oils (Private) Limited, 441,570,357; Trading Corporation Of Pakistan (Private) Limited, Rs434,844,350; Pakistan Services Limited, Rs428,731,650; Telenor Pakistan (Private) Limited, Rs427,579,061; Reckitt Benckiser Pakistan Limited, Rs421,977,892; State Life Insurance Corporation Of Pakistan, Rs410,727,775; Sitara Chemical Industries Limited, Rs404,910,290; Habib Construction Services (Pvt) Limited, Rs403,495,849; Murree Brewery Company Limited, Rs401,342,406; Pakistan International Container Terminal Limited, Rs397,552,545; The Bank Of Khyber, Rs 396,640,829; Dalda Foods (Private) Limited, Rs394,332,240; Attock Refinery Limited, Rs

385,058,343; Tahir Omer Industries Limited, Rs

373,311,786; Bata Pakistan Limited, Rs372,108,292; International Power Global Development Limited, Rs370,427,288; Franklin Templeton Investment Funds, Rs356,442,524; Zhongxing Telecom Pakistan (Private) Limited, Rs

353,117,065; Sea And Land Drilling Contractor Inc, Rs351,648,623; Pakistan Reinsurance Company Limited, Rs349,905,068; Pak China Investment Company Limited, Rs347,293,852; Gold Trade International Limited, Rs338,506,598; and K & N’s Foods (PVT.) Limited, Rs333,372,420

Related Link

FBR List

State of Internet industry

Recently Facebook has acquired the whatsapp for reportedly 19 billion us dollars. This massive figure acquisition has made the silicon based founders of whatsapp billionaire. Both the founder Jan Koum and Brian Acton has become the owner of massive fortunes. According to the estimates the worth of Jan Koum is 6.8 billion dollars while Brian Acton has become the owner of 3 billion us dollars. These new billionaires are the recent example of the possibilities of the cyber world.

Global phenomenon

The sudden rise of billionaires in the internet industry is the first phenomenon of its type. Owing to zero marginal cost in the internet industry, the number of millionaires in internet industry is rising at an increasing pace.

The rise in the number of internet super rich is global phenomenon and for past some decade many billionaires have risen to the scene including the facebook billionaires. Google and yahoo founders were the first internet billionaires. They organized the information present on the internet, and paved the way for future genius to become successful internet entrepreneurs.

Later on billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook), Jeff Bezos(Amazon), Masayoshi Son (Softbank), Pierre Omidyar (Ebay), Robin Li(Baidu), Mark Cuban (broadcast), and many others rose to the status of billionaire. As the number of billionaires rose same was the case of millionaires. These online super rich are generally young.

New opportunities for entrepreneurs are arising owing to increase in number of internet users. Internet not only provides opportunities to entrepreneurs but also has become a tool for social change.

Arab spring in the Middle Eastern countries is an example of the change brought by the internet.

Middle East

The Middle Eastern region has recently seen Arab spring. This Arab spring is attributed to the advent of internet technology. Although the society has seen an evolution but number of cyber entrepreneurs is very small. It will take time for many of the Middle Eastern people to enjoy startup spring along with the Arab spring.

The only country that has sizeable number of internet entrepreneurs is Jordan. It has proved itself to be the hub for technology startups of the region. From many of small internet firms to Maktoob, a Jordanian internet portal, were started in Jordan. Maktoob proved to be an inspiration for many young entrepreneurs of the region, as it was later acquired by Yahoo for as much as 175 million us dollars.

Many Middle Eastern internet entrepreneurs want to serve Saudi market, the juicy market of the region, because of its huge population of 28 million. Saudi Arabia is the largest economy of the region and rich consumer base having money to spend along with good internet connectivity. This makes Saudi Arabia ideal market for the regions internet entrepreneurs.

Like Saudi Arabia, other Middle Eastern countries are also close to intense outside competition, owing to language barrier.

Pakistan

Unlike majority of the regions’ countries, Pakistan has no such barrier of language, as Pakistanis can speak and understand English. Thus the large population of Pakistan can prove to be the large consumer base for the internet companies from around the globe. This already has happened in case of Facebook, Google, and many other online companies. Number of Facebook users in the country has already touched the mark of 10 million.

The rising number of internet users can be an opportunity for country’s entrepreneurs. As majority of people who uses internet are from young strata of the society so is the case of internet entrepreneurs.

There are number of success stories of Pakistani entrepreneurs

Investorguide360, for example, is a Pakistani financial portal. It was Asia’s fastest growing financial portal before its acquisition by AMZ MAK Capital Limited. AMZ MAK Capital Limited is a partnership between Aref Mohammed AlZarouni and Mir Mohammad Ali Khan.

The interest by the investors speaks volume about their confidence in the startups. Recently a Frenchman has made an investment in Pakistani real estate portal Zameen.com. The terms of the agreements were not disclosed although the investment in this portal was confirmed by the investor, Gilles Blanchard. Earlier Mr. Blanchard was associated with SeLoger.com as its co founder. SeLoger.com is French leading real estate portal.

The trend of getting foreign investment started when Monis Rahman, founder of Pakistan’s premier online recruiting website Rozee.pk, got first round of investment from Silicon Valley based venture capital funds, Draper Fisher Jurvetson and ePlanet Capital. Today Rozee.pk is used by more than 16 million professionals for their job search and is used by as much as 54000 employers.

Though Monis Rahman was the trend setter by becoming the first venture fund backed entrepreneur, in Pakistan, it was Abid Beli who first successfully started commercial online venture by starting beliscity.com. Later on his site was sold.

As the trend of blogging is increasing in Pakistan, more and more successful startups will surface. Though presently there are many problems faced by entrepreneurs in starting their own hi-tech ventures. One major problem is lack of financing sources as there is no developed venture capital fund industry. Venture capital funds are more likely to invest in new technology companies. It is owing to this reason that venture capital funds have become synonymous to technology financing.

Related links.

Whatsapp billionaire

Middle Eastern startups

Zameen.com investment