WHO KNEW that the untimely DEATH OF A 35-YEAR-OLD MAN, leaving behind a widow, a son, and a daughter, would lead to a revolutionary industry changing the face of private businesses in a country born 37 years later?

This is the story of Ali Muhammad Dadabhoy, grandfather of Abdullah Dadabhoy, who passed away in 1910, leaving behind a family of three. While the daughter of Ali settled in South Africa after her marriage, his son Abdul Ghani Dadabhoy (late) was born and raised in Porbandar, Gujrat, under British rule in the subcontinent (now India and Pakistan). In 1927, when Abdul Ghani turned 18, the South African shareholders discontinued sending their share of the income to Ghani, who in return filed a lawsuit in the Court of Bombay.

The legal battle, which lasted for 10 years, was fought tirelessly by competitive legal teams that included Bulabhai Desai and a lawyer, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who would later go on to free the Muslims of the subcontinent from a decades-long struggle. This resulted in (late) Abdul Ghani winning 9 million pounds to his name.

Abdul Ghani Dadabhoy (late) then went on to lead the second generation of Dadabhoys, who migrated to Pakistan in 1947 and laid the foundation for the family empire. Even after Abdul Ghani passed away, his remaining five brothers continued to work together till 1992, before branching out into specific subsectors of the Pakistani industry.