THE Prince Aga Khan IV East dead This Tuesday, February 4. It was its foundation The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) announced the news on social networks.
“His Highness Prince Karim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, 49th hereditary imam of Ismaelian Shiite Muslims and direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be with him), died peacefully in Lisbon on February 4, 2025, at age 88, surrounded by his family, ”said on X Its foundation, the Aga Khan Development network (AKDN).
Religious leader of Ismaelian Muslims
Prince Karim al-Hussaini, says Karim Aga Khan IV, was the eldest son of Aly Khan. He was only 20 years old when he became the religious leader of all Ismaelian Muslims in the world to the death of his grandfather, Aga Khan III, in 1957.
Her father had been dismissed from the succession after her marriage to American actress Rita Hayworth.
Until then, the most devoted of his followers, that is to say some 15 million Ismaelian Shiite Muslims dispersed in 25 countries across the planet, greeted him as “the life supplier”.
As an Imam, he was responsible for ensuring the material and spiritual needs of his followers even if his projects, however, benefit people from all confessions. And the least we can say is that Karim Aga Khan knew how to manage his business. His fortune is estimated at more than 13 billion euros. Forbes magazine classifies the Aga Khan dynasty among the ten richest royal families in the world.
Large cantilian patron
AGA Khan had hundreds of racing horses – a good part of which is trained in Chantilly – and first -rate stud farms. He also had an exclusive yacht-club in Sardinia, a private island in Bahamas, two jets and several areas around the world.
Aga Khan was one of the greatest patrons in Chantilly and the Cantilian area. Without him, the Chantilly racecourse and his training center would no doubt closed their doors in 1994. At the time, France Galop was to face important financial problems and the Cantilian racing field seemed condemned. But AGA Khan did not hear it by this ear and weighed all its weight so that France Galop does not validate its fatal project. Its foundation even got their hands in the pocket so that the Chantilly racecourse can be transformed.
The same goes for the Château de Chantilly, very badly when the prince created in 2005 the foundation for the safeguard and development of the Chantilly estate. In fifteen years, the estate will have benefited from nearly 70 million euros from the patron. But in 2020, Aga Khan decided to withdraw from the foundation, five years before the official term which had been allocated to it. The castle must find other means of financing for the future work that will be carried out there …
In 2012, Prince Aga Khan created the hostel of the Palume game in Chantilly. It will be the theater of the G7 Finance in 2019. But in April 2023, the establishment was bought by Portuguese group Sana Hotels.
Two weddings and four children
On the side of his private life, Aga Khan had married Sarah Croker Poole in 1969, ex-wife of Lord James Crichton-Stuart, son of the 5th Marquis de Bute. The couple had three children: Princess Zahra (1970), Prince Rahim (1971) and Prince Hussain (1974). Prince Karim and Sarah Croker Pool divorced in 1995. In 1998, Aga Khan IV remarked on his domain of Aiglemont, in Oise, with Gabriele Renate Thyssen, divorced by Prince Karl Emich de Leingingn. The couple had a son, Prince Aly Muhammad Aga Khan. Their divorce was pronounced in 2011.
His successor not yet known
From the ccôté de la deguement, the name of the new Prince Aga Khan will be announced in Lisbon
The AGA Khan family, the leaders of the Ismaelian community and the executors of the last wishes of the deceased must come together in Portugal. This is explained by the Nizârites Ismaelis on a website specially dedicated to the transition.
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