Shahzada Dawood

Shahzada Dawood (12 February 1975 – 18 June 2023) was a Pakistani businessman and philanthropist.
Dawood, his 19-year-old son, Suleman, and three others inside the submersible Titan died when it imploded on a tourist expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic.
Early life
Dawood was born in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, on 12 February 1975, the son of Hussain Dawood. His sisters were Azmeh Dawood and Sabrina Dawood, a philanthropist. His brother was Abdul Samad Dawood. His paternal grandfather, Ahmed Dawood, was a prominent Memon industrialist who founded the family business, Dawood Group. Shahzada acquired his early education from Aitchison College. He received an LLB from Buckingham University and an MSc in global textile marketing from Philadelphia University (now Thomas Jefferson University).
Career
Dawood was the vice-chairman of the Engro Corporation, and a director of the Dawood Hercules Corporation.
Dawood had been on the board of the Engro Corporation since 2003. He became the vice-chairman of Engro in October 2021. Before this, he had been the vice-chairman of the Dawood Hercules Corporation. He had invested in finding growth opportunities through mergers and acquisitions in textiles, fertilizers, foods, and energy in public-listed companies.
In 2012, Dawood was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. Dawood had spoken at the United Nations in 2020 on the occasion of International Day of Women and Girls in Science.
Philanthropy
From 1996 to 2023, Dawood had been a trustee of the family-foundation, The Dawood Foundation (TDF), which focused on education. TDF had been coordinating the Hussain Dawood Pledge, a private donation to fight COVID-19 in Pakistan. He had been focused in efforts to provide mental health support to people hit by COVID-19 in Pakistan.
Dawood was also a trustee of Engro Foundation, a member of the Global Advisory Board for Prince's Trust International, a charity founded by Charles III, and a board member of the SETI Institute.
Personal life
Shahzada Dawood was married to Christine Dawood, who is of German descent. They had two children together.
Dawood became a Maltese citizen in 2016, reportedly through an Individual Investor Programme.
Media reports indicate that Dawood had a keen interest in investigating natural habitats and renewable energies. He was described as a "photography enthusiast", particularly passionate about wildlife photography and exploring different natural habitats.
Titan expedition and death
Dawood and his family departed from their residence in London and journeyed to Canada for the duration of one month. Shahzada, a Titanic enthusiast with a "years long passion for science and discovery," booked tickets for himself and his wife over Father's Day weekend to embark on the Titan submersible to view the wreck of the Titanic. His wife later gave her ticket to the couple's nineteen-year-old son, Suleman, who was eager at the prospect of viewing the wreckage. The dive, which was expected to bring the travellers to a depth of , began on the morning of 18 June 2023 and was expected to last eight hours. Approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes after beginning the descent, Titan lost contact with the surface ship, the MV Polar Prince. Search and rescue missions involved water and air support from the United States, Canada and France.
On 22 June 2023, the United States Coast Guard confirmed that they had found debris approximately 1,600 feet (500 metres) from the bow of the Titanic that was "consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber", and concluded that the passengers aboard Titan – Dawood and his son, Suleman, as well as Hamish Harding, Paul-Henri Nargeolet, and OceanGate CEO Stockton Rush — had all died instantly.
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References
1975 births
2023 deaths
21st-century Pakistani businesspeople
21st-century philanthropists
Aitchison College alumni
Alumni of the University of Buckingham
Dawood family
Pakistani billionaires
Pakistani emigrants to the United Kingdom
Pakistani investors
Pakistani philanthropists
Pakistani people of Gujarati descent
People from Rawalpindi
Deaths due to shipwreck at sea
People with acquired Maltese citizenship
Thomas Jefferson University alumni