The Haroon-Saigol Family
Headed by Amber Haroon Saigol, Haroon-Saigol family, combines two of the most influential business houses in Pakistan – the Haroons (who have been pioneers in newspaper publishing) and the Saigols (who have been leading investors since the 1960s in many fields such as textiles, chemicals, beauty products and, lately, consumer electronics.
Amber Haroon Saigol’s father Mehmoud Abdullah Haroon set up many family businesses including Pakistan Herald Publications, Haroon Sons and Haroon Oils. Her late husband, Azam Saigol, was one of the leading businessmen in Pakistan before his death in January 2018. He was a shareholder and director in a number of companies, many of them owned by his family. In 2016, he also worked as the chairman of Pakistan International Airlines, the country’s state-owned air carrier.
Haroon-Saigol family also owns Dawn News television, City FM 89 radio station, Dawn.com news website and English language magazines Herald and Aurora.
Amber Haroon-Saigol’s daughter Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani is the Managing Director of City FM 89 radio station, Chief Operating Officer of Aurora Broadcasting Services Limited that owns Dawn News television, Chief Executive Officer of Herald Entertainment (Private) Limited and Deputy Chief Executive of the Pakistan Herald Publications (Private) Limited. She is married to Danish Ali Lakhani whose paternal uncle Sultan Ali Lakhani owns Express Media Group.
Amber Haroon-Saigol’s other daughter Zeina Rawjee is married to Mustafa Rawjee whose family owns many businesses in Democratic Republic of Congo including Rawbank of which he serves as the deputy chief executive officer.
Business
Publishing
Pakistan Herald Publications Private Limited
TV Broadcasting
Aurora Broadcasting Services (Private) Limited
Film Production
Herald Entertainment Private Limited
Radio Broadcasting
Kohinoor Airwaves (Private) Limited
Oils and lubricants
Haroon Oils Private Limited
Trade & Commerce
Pakistan Herald Mercantile (Private) Limited
Family & Friends
Affiliated Interests Family Members Friends
A nephew of Mehmoud Abdullah Haroon, the founder of Pakistan Herald Publications Private Limited, he is the chief executive officer of the group.
A daughter of Amber Haroon-Saigol, she is the Managing Director of City FM 89 radio station, Chief Operating Officer of Aurora Broadcasting Services Limited that owns Dawn News television, Chief Executive Officer of Herald Entertainment (Private) Limited and Deputy Chief Executive of the Pakistan Herald Publications (Private) Limited. She is married to Danish Ali Lakhani whose paternal uncle Sultan Ali Lakhani owns Express Media Group.
The elder brother of Hameed Haroon and a first cousin of Amber Haroon-Saigol, he was Pakistan’s foreign minister (May-August 2018), Pakistan’s permanent representative in the United Nations (2008-12) and the speaker of the provincial assembly of Sindh (1985–86).
Working as chief executive officer of Haroon Sons (Private) Limited, director finance at Pakistan Herald Publications (Private) Limited and, he is a member of board of directors at several companies owned by Haroon-Saigol family, including Pakistan Herald Publications Private Limited.
A journalist since 1981, he started his career as a reporter with The Star, a now defunct daily evening newspaper published by the Pakistan Herald Publications (Private) Limited. He also reported for the Khaleej Times (1984-1992), worked as a reporter for the Herald (1988-2006) and served as a Pakistan correspondent for BBC radio (1990-2006). In 2006, he became daily Dawn’s resident editor in Islamabad. He held that position till 2010 when he became the editor of the newspaper.
Further Information
Meta Data
The family was sent information request, via the media outlets it owns, on 15 January 2019 through a courier company as well as by email. It did respond after a reminder was couriered on 1st February 2019 and emailed on 4 February 2019 but the information provided was brief and sketchy. Its financial and administrative information is also not available online.
