Shahid Khan Shahid Khan ( born c . 1952 ) is a Pakistani - born American billionaire businessman . He is the owner of the Jacksonville Jaguars of the National Football League ( NFL ) and owner of automobile parts manufacturer Flex - N - Gate Corp . in Urbana , Illinois . As of 2012 , Khan ' s net worth is over $ 2 . 5 billion . He is ranked 179th in the Forbes 400 list of richest Americans and is overall the 491st wealthiest person in the world . He is also the richest person of Pakistani origin . Early life . Khan was born in Lahore , Pakistan to a middle - class family which was involved in the construction business . His mother ( now retired ) was a professor of mathematics . He moved to the United States in 1968 at age 16 to study at the University of Illinois at Urbana – Champaign . When he came to the United States , he spent his first night in a $ 2 / night room at the University Y - YMCA , and his first job was washing dishes for $ 1 . 20 an hour . He joined the Beta Theta Pi fraternity at the school . He graduated from the UIUC School of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering with a BSc in 1971 . Khan acquired US citizenship in 1991 . Flex - N - Gate . Khan worked at the automotive manufacturing company Flex - N - Gate while attending the University of Illinois . When he graduated he was hired as the engineering director for the company . In 1978 , he started Bumper Works , which made car bumpers for customizing pickup trucks and body shop repairs . The transaction involved a $ 50 , 000 loan from the Small Business Loan Corporation and $ 16 , 000 in his savings . In 1980 he bought Flex - N - Gate from his former employer Charles Gleason Butzow , bringing Bumper Works into the fold . Khan grew the company so that it supplied bumpers for the Big Three automakers . In 1984 he began supplying a small number of bumpers for Toyota pickups . By 1987 it was the sole supplier for Toyota pick ups and by 1989 it was the sole supplier for the entire Toyota line in the United States . Toyota Sensei instruction drastically transformed the company efficiency and ability to change its manufacturing process within a few minutes . Since then the company has grown from $ 17 million in sales to an estimated $ 2 billion in 2010 . By 2011 , Flex - N - Gate had 12 , 450 employees and 48 manufacturing plants in the United States and several other countries , and took in $ 3 billion in revenue . In May 2012 , the Occupational Safety and Health Administration fined Flex - N - Gate $ 57 , 000 for health violations at its Urbana plant . Jacksonville Jaguars . Khan ' s first attempt to purchase a National Football League team came in February 11 , 2010 , when he entered into an agreement to acquire 60 percent of the St . Louis Rams from Chip Rosenbloom and Lucia Rodriguez , subject to approval by other NFL owners . However , Stan Kroenke , the minority shareholder of the Rams , ultimately exercised a clause in his ownership agreement to match any proposed bid . On November 29 , 2011 , Khan agreed to purchase the Jacksonville Jaguars from Wayne Weaver and his ownership group subject to NFL approval . Weaver announced his sale of the team to Khan later that same day . The terms of the deal were not immediately disclosed , other than a verbal commitment to keep the team in Jacksonville , Florida . The sale was finalized on January 4 , 2012 . The purchase price for 100 % share in the Jaguars is estimated to be $ 760 million . The NFL owners unanimously approved the purchase on December 14 , 2011 . While Khan ' s purchase of the Jaguars has been described as making him " the first member of an ethnic minority " ever to own an NFL team , other NFL teams have been owned by people of Jewish ethnicity ( such as Chip and Carroll Rosenbloom and Robert Kraft owner of The New England Patriots ) . Recognition . Khan has received a number of awards from the University of Illinois , including a Distinguished Alumnus Award in 1999 from the Department of Mechanical Science and Industrial Engineering , the Alumni Award for Distinguished Service in 2006 from the College of Engineering , and ( with his wife , Ann ) the Distinguished Service Award in 2005 from the University of Illinois Alumni Association .