America’s Most Successful Immigrants

Shahid Khan

Shahid Khan was originally born in Pakistan and moved to the United States when he was 16 years old so he could go to school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Khan is worth $7.2 billion and is the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Fulham F.C. (the English Football League Championship team), and Flex-N-Gate, which is a parts manufacturer in Illinois.

Khan graduated from college with a bachelor’s of science in Mechanical Engineering and later earned the Mechanical Science and Engineering Distinguished Alumni Award in 1999. He officially became a citizen in 1991, 24 years after coming to America.

Where did he Start?

While going to college, Khan worked at Flex-N-Gate. Once he graduated, he became the engineering director and eventually started his own company called Bumper Works. Eventually, he bought Flex-N-Gate from his employer and folded both companies into one. In 2011, the company had $3 billion in revenue.

That same year, Khan bought the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the sale wasn’t finalized until 2012. The estimate cost of this transaction was $760 million. Once he purchased this team, he became the first person of an ethnic minority to own an NFL team. In 2013, Khan bough the London soccer club Fulham, which is of the Premier League.