American-Pakistani businessman tycoon Tanweer Ahmed has made headlines in Pakistan in recent days over his generous donation of $9 million to a Pakistani university and also over the recent visit of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Asim Munir to the United States.

So, who is the Houston-based multi-millionaire Mr. Tanweer Ahmed, and how did he make it big in the United States?

It was General Asim Munir’s Washington visit that brought a lot of attention to the business entrepreneur after several misleading and false statements were shared over social media.

Mr Tanweer Ahmed took to social media to counter the fake news machine by giving his own account of meeting with the army chief and being a witness to the three hours of frank discussions the Army Chief had with the diaspora Pakistani American community.

In particular, Mr Ahmed emphasised that the army chief was frank in his discussions with the community and that there was an overwhelming demand to attend the meeting at the Pakistani Embassy meeting in Washington, DC.

It was at the same meeting that the army chief praised him for donating $9 million to Islamabad’s National University of Science and Technology (NUST) to help students from poor backgrounds gain access to quality education through scholarships, with a focus on helping and empowering the most impoverished students from all across Pakistan. Gen. Munir praised Tanweer Ahmed in the following words: “Pakistan is proud of heroes like you.”

NUST has confirmed that Tanweer Ahmed has entered into a partnership with the university through an endowment fund for unprivileged students, which will benefit nearly 200 students who would be able to get scholarships every year.

The $9 million donation is one of the single largest donations by any overseas Pakistani to any Pakistani university.

The Army Chief told Mr. Ahmed: “Your support to NUST in establishing the Science and Technology Park, expansion of campuses, and partnership for assisting financially challenged students are praiseworthy initiatives, meeting due recognition.

Indeed, through this venture, not only will NUST gain further strength, but it will also enable many students to bear their expenditures.

Your efforts in the domains of humanitarian assistance and interest in academia in Pakistan are a true reflection and favour for the people of Pakistan.”

Last month, the Governor of Sindh, Mr. Kamran Tessori, conferred a doctorate degree and a gold medal on Tanweer Ahmed for his philanthropic work in Pakistan, including $9 million for NUST University’s new IT Tower.

It’s not just the NUST University Mr. Tanweer Ahmed wants to work with. He has already built a state-of-the arts hospital in Sialkot.

Tanweer Ahmed said that he plans to expand the scheme to other universities and to NUST, where the donation scheme will run permanently.

“The deserving students would get scholarships annually through the Higher Education Commission (HEC). The system to obtain scholarships will be purely based on merit and aimed strictly at those students who are unable to afford a quality and expensive education".

"I decided to launch the Endowment Fund to assist talented and deserving Pakistani students in order for them to make their mark in various advanced sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI), information technology (IT), and the latest technologies. The future belongs to these sectors, and Pakistan will benefit hugely from its youth.”

Tanweer Ahmed is an American-Pakistani businessman, investor, entrepreneur, and philanthropist who works with major companies, not-for-profit organisations, and hospitals.

He is the owner of the largest cricket complex in Houston, the Prairie View Cricket Complex, and the owner of the Houston Hurricanes cricket franchise.

The multi-millionaire businessman is the founder of a brand of food chains and also owns many food chain franchises like Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and KFC. He owns California’s largest transport company and has business interests in the energy sector and medicine industry. Tanweer Ahmed is credited for taking over $50 million in aid to Pakistan during the devastating floods in Pakistan in 2022.

Tanweer Ahmed started off on a humble note in the US when he migrated as a student and worked in a restaurant.

Tanweer Ahmed, 55, was born in Sialkot to a lower middle-class agrarian family. His father, Mohammad Waris, didn’t have enough money to send his children to modern educational institutions, but he knew the importance of education and did everything for his children.

Mohammad Waris faced huge financial difficulties when he enrolled Tanweer Ahmed in the best private school in his area.

A young Tanweer Ahmed would either have the luxury to go to school by bus or walk for a couple of miles to save pennies for lunch. Things were so difficult at that time for Tanweer Ahmed that, at the age of 10, he would sell vegetables in Sialkot's area to raise money for his school fees.

At the age of 18, in 1988, Tanweer Ahmed left for London after realising that he would further burden his ageing father if he continued his education. He stayed in London with his uncle for a brief period, then left for the United States of America.

When he landed in New York City for the first time, Tanweer Ahmed had only $23 in his pocket, no contacts, and nowhere to go.

He struggled there for a few months before moving on first to Sacramento and then settling in San Francisco.

He took up jobs at a Desi restaurant and gas stations. At that time, the US economy was stable, and employment expanded at a good pace. The very next year, Ahmed was offered a job at Jack in the Box as a shift manager.

Tanweer Ahmed’s out-of-the-box approach to generating profit led to his unprecedented promotions. In a couple of months, he was the regional manager, the area manager, and then the general manager (GM) of Taco Bell. Since then, the boy from Sialkot has had a meteoric rise.

His business grew from one store to 153 stores in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, and Texas with over 5,000 employees, making him one of the largest fast-food franchise owners in America.

Simultaneously, Ahmed set up insurance companies and also invested in energy production businesses in Texas, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Illinois.

After establishing himself as a successful entrepreneur, Ahmed followed his childhood passion. In this endeavour, he was sure to attract global attention. In 2018, when he announced plans to construct the largest cricket complex in the USA, he acquired 86 acres of land, not very far from the main Houston city area.

Tanweer Ahmed, a passionate cricketer, didn’t have the luxury of playing when he was young. it was time for other cricket enthusiasts to be provided with an opportunity to enjoy the world’s second-biggest sport.

Today, his Prairie View Cricket Complex is fast turning Houston into the cricket capital of the United States of America. After all, Texas is home to the third-largest Asian population after California and New York. In June 2023, this venue hosted the ‘Houston Open T20 Tournament’ that featured Major League Cricket and international stars. It drew a large crowd of fans from almost every country where cricket is played.

He also got involved in the banking sector and played a role in reducing transaction time. It led him to gain the trust of the then-vice chair of the Federal Reserve, expand his business, and enter the middle class.

Ahmed has also contributed to uplifting American-Pakistanis as well as the people of his ancestral homeland. He has built 10 mosques in different states and donated lands for graveyards in Virginia and California. In Pakistan, he has upgraded Sialkot Girls’ school into a college and opened a state-of-the-art free dialysis centre.

During floods, he made good use of his contacts with the top congresspersons and brought a delegation comprising Sheila Jackson, Algreen, and Tom Souzi.

As the congressperson announced $30 million in aid, Ahmed contributed Rs 30 million from his own pocket.

Later, he coined the idea of building a model village for flood victims in Sindh. This was a million-dollar project where a replica of a pure American village was to be developed with all the basic amenities.

He donated huge sums of money to build houses for flood victims in both Sindh and Balochistan.

For Tanweer Ahmed, the key to business was a step-by-step approach, meticulous planning, and diversification.

He says his decision to donate to NUST’s IT Tower was motivated by his own passion for education and IT. He wants to see Pakistani students from poor backgrounds prosper and become world leaders.