What is Nawaz Sharif's Net Worth?
Nawaz Sharif is a Pakistani politician and businessman who has a net worth of $1.8 billion. Nawaz Sharif earned his fortune primarily through his family's industrial empire, the Ittefaq Group, one of Pakistan's largest steel producers. The longest-serving prime minister in Pakistan's history, he served three non-consecutive terms, with two in the 1990s and one in the 2010s. All three of his terms ended in an ousting, and he was exiled for several years amid criminal convictions, corruption investigations, and controversies related to his wealth.
Wealth and Business Interests
Nawaz Sharif's net worth is rooted in the Ittefaq Group, a steel conglomerate founded by his father in the 1930s. After its nationalization by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the 1970s, Sharif entered politics to defend the family's assets, ultimately regaining control and expanding their holdings throughout the Middle East and Pakistan. He also controls the Sharif Group, which holds major interests in agriculture and sugar production. Sharif's wealth has long drawn criticism for its lack of transparency. His net worth, reportedly between $1.5 and $1.8 billion, includes luxury properties abroad and extensive land holdings in Pakistan. These assets have been the subject of multiple corruption investigations and court cases.
Early Life and Education
Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was born on December 25, 1949, in Lahore, Pakistan into an upper-middle-class family of Punjabi Kashmiris. His father, Muhammad, was a businessman who co-founded the steel producer Ittefaq Group and founded the agricultural conglomerate Sharif Group. Nawaz Sharif has two younger brothers named Shehbaz and Abbas, both of whom became politicians like him. After attending St. Anthony's High School, Sharif went to the Government College University, where he studied art and business. He went on to earn a law degree from the University of the Punjab.
Start of Political Career
Sharif first got into politics in response to Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whose nationalization measures threatened the Sharif family's control of its steel business. In the latter half of the 1970s, he joined the Tehreek-e-Istiqlal and Pakistan Muslims League political parties. By the 1980s, Sharif had become a prominent supporter of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq's military dictatorship, and in 1981 was named by Zia as Punjab's minister of finance. In this role, Sharif privatized and deregulated industries in Punjab, making the province the richest in India. Meanwhile, he invested in various oil-rich Arab countries to rebuild his family's steel empire.
Chief Minister of Punjab
Backed by the military, Sharif became Chief Minister of Punjab in 1985. During his reign, he expanded military infrastructure, beautified Lahore, and suppressed political dissent while enriching himself. Sharif was reelected in 1988 following the death of General Zia and the end of martial law.
Prime Minister, 1990-1993
In 1990, Sharif became head of the right-wing Islami Jamhuri Ittihad alliance, which he led to victory in that year's manipulated general elections. He subsequently became the 12th prime minister of Pakistan, succeeding Benazir Bhutto. During his first term, Sharif focused on privatizing industries; expanding infrastructure, telecommunications, and the nuclear energy program; and promoting Islamization and religious conservatism. He was also involved in several conflicts, including a growing antagonism between liberal and conservative factions that caused him to launch a violent paramilitary operation. Sharif's policies and his power struggle with President Ghulam Ishaq Khan led to a constitutional crisis, and under pressure from the military, Sharif resigned as prime minister in July of 1993.
Prime Minister, 1997-1999
Following the reelection of Benazir Bhutto as prime minister in 1993, Sharif partnered with Bhutto's younger brother Murtaza to undermine the government. Bhutto's popularity declined significantly over the ensuing years, leading to her ousting in 1996. Subsequently, in the 1997 general elections, Sharif was reelected as prime minister when he led the Pakistan Muslim League to a landslide victory. He began to consolidate power during his second term, amending the constitution to restrict the powers of the president to dismiss governments. Sharif also made Pakistan the first Muslim country to go nuclear, which occurred in 1998. However, he also caused another constitutional crisis, and soon fell out of favor with both the public and the military as Pakistan became involved in multiple international conflicts. This led to the 1999 military coup d'état in which Sharif was deposed.
Getty Images
Convictions and Exile
Put on trial by the military following the 1999 takeover, Sharif was convicted of kidnapping, attempted murder, corruption, terrorism, and hijacking a plane, and was sentenced to life in prison. He was also convicted for tax evasion and given a 14-year sentence. Sharif was placed in exile for a decade and was ordered to stay away from Pakistani politics for 21 years.
In 2016, Nawaz Sharif's financial dealings came under global scrutiny when the Panama Papers revealed that his children owned offshore companies used to purchase high-end London properties. The disclosures fueled long-standing accusations that the Sharif family had funneled wealth abroad through undeclared assets and money laundering, much of it allegedly tied to state contracts and kickbacks from his time in office.
Return to Pakistan
In late 2007, Sharif returned to Pakistan amid much fanfare. The following year was marked by extreme turbulence in the country as former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated and President Pervez Musharraf resigned in the wake of his impeachment. In 2010, the 18th Amendment to Pakistan's Constitution passed, allowing prime ministers to serve more than two terms in office.
Prime Minister, 2013-2017
In the 2013 general elections, Sharif again led the Pakistan Muslim League to victory, giving him his third premiership. The rival Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party protested the results, claiming the election was rigged. In his third term as prime minister, Sharif shifted from social conservatism to social centrism, taking steps toward religious equality, the promotion of the arts, and trade liberalization. He also continued his legacy of expanding Pakistan's nuclear power and fighting terrorism. Sharif also continued his legacy of corruption, and in 2017 he was removed from office due to his connections to the Panama Papers case, which revealed his ownership of major overseas assets.
Post-premiership
In 2018, the Pakistani Supreme Court ruled that Sharif was disqualified from holding public office for life due to his involvement in the Panama Papers case. He was subsequently sentenced to ten years in prison by an accountability court. In 2019, Sharif relocated to London to receive medical treatment on bail. Although declared an absconder, he was eventually granted protective bail by the Islamabad High Court in two of his ongoing corruption cases. After four years in exile, Sharif returned to Pakistan in 2023 and was acquitted in those cases by the IHC. He soon regained leadership of the Pakistan Muslim League, and began a campaign for a fourth term as prime minister in 2024. Although Sharif won a seat in the National Assembly due to election rigging, his party failed to claim a simple majority.
Personal Life
In 1971, Sharif married Kulsoom Nawaz. They had two sons named Hussain and Hassan and two daughters named Maryam and Asma. Maryam became Chief Minister of Punjab in 2024. Kulsoom passed away in 2018.