Prince Rahim Aga Khan was born on 12 October 1971, in Geneva, Switzerland. He is the eldest son and second child of His Highness Karim Aga Khan’s four children. Prince Rahim holds a BA from Brown University, Rhode Island, USA and an executive management degree from Navarra Business School in Barcelona, Spain.
Based at the Secretariat of His Highness the Aga Khan at Aiglemont, north of Paris, France, Prince Rahim is an executive Director of the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) — the economic development arm of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). He also serves as an Executive Director at the Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AKAM).
Prince Rahim’s father His Highness Karim Aga Khan, a British national, is the 49th and current Imam of Nizari Ismailism – a denomination of Ismailism within global Shia Islam consisting of approximately 15 million adherents. He has held this position of Imam, under the title of Aga Khan IV, since July 11, 1957. As the Imam of Nizari Ismailism, his followers regard him as a direct bloodline descendent of the prophet Mohamed, making Prince Rahim a descendent as well. He is one of the world’s ten richest royals and an international business magnate, with an estimated net worth of $800 million USD (2010). Prince Karim Aga Khan is unique among the richest royals, as he does not preside over a geographic territory. He owns hundred of racehorses, valuable stud farms, and several estates around the world.
His Highness Aga Khan has also been involved in complex political and economic changes which have affected his Nizari Ismaili followers, including the independence of African countries from colonial rule, expulsion of Asians from Uganda, the independence of Central Asian countries such as Tajikistan from the former Soviet Union and the continuous turmoil in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Prince Rahim Aga Khan travels regularly to Asia and Africa to oversee the industrial plants, hotel properties and financial institutions, including microfinance programmes, of the Aga Khan Development Network, which is one of the largest private systems of agencies fostering social, cultural and economic development in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. The organization has said it works toward improvement of the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalization of historic cities.