Aga Khan IV - Personal Finances

Personal Finances

Forbes describes the Aga Khan as one of the world's ten richest royals with an estimated net worth of $800 million USD (2010). Additionally he is unique among the richest royals as he does not preside over a geographic territory. He owns hundreds of racehorses, valuable stud farms, an exclusive yacht club on Sardinia, a private island in the Bahamas, two Bombardier jets, a 12-seat helicopter, a £100 million high speed yacht named after his prize racehorse, and several estates around the world, including an estate called Aiglemont at Gouvieux, north of Paris. His philanthropic institutions, funded by his followers, spend more than $600 million per year – primarily in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East. In 2007, after an interview with the Aga Khan, G. Pascal Zachary, of The New York Times, wrote, "Part of the Aga Khan's personal wealth, which his advisers say exceeds $1 billion, comes from a dizzyingly complex system of tithes that some of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims pay him each year, which is at least 12.5% of each Nizari Ismaili's gross annual income] – an amount that he will not disclose but which may reach hundreds of millions of dollars annually."

In the Encyclopaedia of Ismailism, Mumtaz Ali Tajddin, a Nizari Ismaili, describes the components of dasond that come from the gross income of the followers of Nizari Ismailism and that go to the Imam of Nizari Ismailism, Aga Khan IV:

The tenth part of the income is separated along with 2½ zakat, making the deduction of 12½ from the income . The tenth part solely belongs to the Imam, while 2½ part being zakat for the welfare purpose. Both parts (10 & 2½) are presented to the Imam.

No documented records whatsoever are kept – at least that are accessible to either the public or to the Nizari Ismaili community – of how the Aga Khan uses the tithes that are given to him, and to what extent they benefit the Aga Khan personally versus benefiting the Nizari Ismaili community (or others). In a 1958 televised interview with London journalists, approximately one year after becoming the 49th Imam of the Nizari Ismaili community, the Aga Khan claimed that the tithes are voluntary and are used "...either to grant scholarships to students, to grant capital to a school or a hospital." He was not asked whether he keeps a portion of the tithes for himself and/or his family in the interview, and was not asked to expand on how the tithes are used beyond the few ways he mentioned, however. The Aga Khan IV's statement in the interview on the tithes being voluntary contradicts the statement of his grandfather – the previous Nizari Ismaili Imam, the Aga Khan III – based on the latter's 1948 farman (confidential pronouncement intended only for Nizari Ismailis) documented at a well-known Nizari Ismaili website, which indicates that the giving of tithes is the "first of all duties" of a Nizari Ismaili. Additionally, according to a 1949 cover story on the Aga Khan III in Life Magazine (now Time Magazine), by Robert Coughlan, the giving of tithes to the Aga Khan is a "religious duty." In this same story, the Aga Khan III claimed that he "uses only about 10%" of the tithes collected from Nizari Ismailis for his own personal use. This is consistent with the words of Hatim Amiji, of Harvard, who while writing about the Aga Khan III noted that: "Although the Imam was the sole, legal owner of all communal funds and incomes, in practice he gave much of it back to the community." Assuming that the Aga Khan III's claim in Life Magazine was accurate, it indicates an amount collected by the Aga Khan for personal use that is almost certainly at least in the hundreds of millions of dollars annually (aligning with the amount reported by G. Pascal Zachary of the New York Times), given the reported size of the Nizari Ismaili population. Tithes not only include dasond (at least 12.5% of the gross annual income of each Nizari Ismaili), but, also a vast and extensive array of other amounts to be paid in the course of private worship services (not open to the public or other Muslims) at Nizari Ismaili jamatkhanas (places of worship) – as indicated in the High Court of Bombay's 1908 Haji Bibi Case, in which the Aga Khan III was the main defendant.

The Aga Khan is and has been involved in other business ventures such as luxury hotels. In the 1990s, the Aga Khan had a group of $400 a night Italian luxury hotels, called Ciga. This group embarked on an ill-timed expansion that lead to a $640 million debt. In attempt to combat this debt, the Aga Khan's holding company Fimpar S.p.A. planned to raise $200 million on the Milan stock exchange but the First Gulf War scared people off. Ultimately IMI Bank A.G. of Germany seized the assets of Fimpar S.p.A. Currently the Aga Khan, through his for-profit AKFED, is the largest shareholder in the Serena Hotels chain. Additionally, the Aga Khan owns and operates the biggest horse racing and breeding operation in France, and this operation is considered one of his main sources of income.

In 2009, it was noted by Forbes that the Aga Khan's net worth was $800 million USD – after a decline of $200 million over the course of the previous year.