Shoukat Dhanani
| Shoukat Dhanani | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan |
| 🏳️ Citizenship | American |
| 🏫 Education | South Texas Junior College |
| 💼 Occupation | CEO of The Dhanani Group |
| 👩 Spouse(s) | Nadya Dhanani |
Shoukat Dhanani (born 1956) is a Pakistani-American businessman, investor, and philanthropist[1]. He is the CEO and head of The Dhanani Group, one of America's largest private companies, which he established in the early 1970s with his father and brothers.[2] He has grown his business into a holding company of 1,100 restaurants, 125 convenience stores, and a wholesale fuel distributor.[3]
Early life and education
Dhanani was raised in an Ismaili Muslim family in Karachi, Pakistan. He is the son of Hassan Ali Dhanani and comes from Gujarati descent.[2]
Dhanani and his older brother immigrated to Houston, TX in 1972–73 and began attending South Texas Junior College. While being a full-time student, Dhanani worked as a busboy in an Italian restaurant. Eventually, Dhanani began to work at a Tenneco gas station. By 1976, Dhanani and his brother had learned the gas station business and decided to buy their own gas station, taking over a Shell at the corner of Hillcroft and Bissonnet Street on Houston’s west side. This early investment became a significant experience in Dhanani's early life and influenced his future investments.[3]
Investment career
After having great success in his first gas station acquisition, Dhanani acquired many other underperforming gas stations, brought up their sales, and refinanced them under the brand of Handi Stop. In 1994, he had strong cash reserves, and he decided to build gas stations from the ground up and also become a fuel wholesaler.[3]
Later in 1994, a Burger King franchisee offered to sell him two of his restaurants. That deal fell through, but only after Dhanani was approved as a franchisee. That’s when he decided to put a Burger King inside a new gas station he built.[3] Dhanani was a pioneer of co-branding gas stations with fast food businesses. “Back in those days, co-branding with food and gas was being talked about, but no one had done it,” Dhanani said.
Between 1994–2010, he only owned 40 Burger Kings via The Dhanani Group, but he told Forbes, “We had a lot of cash. The economy was good. And it was a great time to buy out troubled franchisees,”. In 2012, Dhanani acquired 100 Burger Kings in the New England area.[4] Later in 2014, Dhanani purchased 255 Burger Kings from The Blackstone Group.[5][6]
Dhanani bought his first two Popeyes Franchises when CEO Cheryl Bachelder was starting to revamp the franchise in 2010. By 2019, Dhanani owned 12 percent of all Popeyes' restaurants.
As of 2019, Dhanani owns over 1,100 restaurants consisting mainly Burger Kings, Popeyes', Sonic Drive-Ins, Dairy Queens, La Madeleine bakeries and Cyclone Anaya Mexican restaurants.
Today Dhanani's businesses generate over $2 billion in revenue annually. He has headquartered his business operations in Sugar Land, TX and has divided the company into divisions, with a family member charged with running each division.[3]
References
- ↑ Feldman, Amy. "Entrepreneur Shoukat Dhanani Runs One Of America's Largest Private Businesses -- Very, Very Quietly". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "This Pakistani Owns One of America's Largest Private Businesses". Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Entrepreneur turns one gas station into 1,100 restaurants in 22 states". HoustonChronicle.com. 2019-12-27. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- ↑ Feldman, Amy. "Giant Burger King Franchisee Agrees To Pay $250K To Settle Child Labor Violations In Massachusetts". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- ↑ "Houston Foods To Buy Heartland Units - Restaurant Industry Insight and Analysis - September 2014". www.restfinance.com. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
- ↑ "Blackstone to sell Burger King locations to franchisee: Bloomberg". Reuters. 2014-09-12. Retrieved 2020-01-12.
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