Malik Riaz

Malik Riaz Hussain ( born February 8, 1954) is a Pakistani real estate tycoon and philanthropist. He is the founder and chairman of Bahria Town.Riaz is currently the 7th richest person in Pakistan, with an estimated wealth of US$1.1 billion as of 2017 and is one of Pakistan’s most prominent philanthropists.

Born in Sialkot into a wealthy family which went bankrupt during his adolescence.Malik Riaz was born to a contractor who suffered heavy losses in business forcing Riaz to drop out of high school after completing his matriculation. He went on to work as a clerk with the Military Engineering Service and often working part-time as a painter.

He later moved to become a low-key contractor in the military.According to Dr. Ayesha Siddiqa, Riaz learnt to ‘work the system’, according to Siddiqa, Riaz used his contacts to secure a contract with Pakistan Navy in mid-1990s to develop two housing schemes in outskirts of Rawalpindi. In 2000, Pakistan Navy transeffered its entire shareholding to Hussain and later fought a legal battle with Riaz over contract infringement which the Supreme Court ruled in Hussain’s favor. Riaz started his career as a clerk with a construction company in Rawalpindi. In the 1980s Riaz moved to become a contractor, and in 1995 was contracted to develop a gated community for Pakistan Navy. The contract was eventually terminated, but Riaz went on to develop Bahria Town Rawalpindi.