Syed Babar Ali lives a strikingly simple life. His meals are unpretentious — daal chawal, vegetables and the occasional serving of meat. His days are structured by routine: five days a week at the office, weekends at home with family and friends. Every Sunday, he visits his parents grave at Mubarak Haveli — his once-ancestral home at Bhati Gate in Lahore’s old city area, which also houses an imambargah and an art school. After prayers, he hosts guests at Mubarak Haveli or at his home in Gulberg from all walks of life — sometimes five, sometimes 25 — serving halwa puri and tea.
And this is all the more remarkable because, on June 30, 2026, arguably the most respected business magnate in Pakistan will turn a century old.
How much can one man achieve in 100 years? Syed Babar Ali’s life is a testament to precisely this question.
For most guests, it’s always a surprise that a man of such stature and accomplishments is so approachable, accommodating and curious. Syed Babar Ali, or SBA as he is known, credits his father, Syed Maratib Ali, for his being grounded and humble. Even his autobiography is titled Learning From Others.
Business magnate, philanthropist and institution-builder are only a few words one can use to try and sum up the seemingly endless endeavours of Syed Babar Ali, who turns 100 on June 30. Few Pakistanis have witnessed as much history and contributed to it in equal measure. On the eve of his century on Earth, Eos pays tribute to one businessman in Pakistan nobody seems to have anything negative to say about…
BUILDING INSTITUTIONS, NOT BUSINESSES
Now contrast that with what SBA has achieved.
One of his earliest business decisions was to shift focus to Lahore from Karachi, where his family’s industrial interests were largely anchored. As a 30-year-old, he established Packages Limited in 1956, following a joint venture with a Swedish firm. The venture was such a success that it probably played a role in the Swedish prime minister visiting Pakistan in the 1960s — the only such visit to date.
Over time, Packages Limited became a company whose products now sit in almost every Pakistani home, from Rose Petal tissues to printer inks and cornstarch. Today, the group has expanded beyond packaging into retail as well, including its well-known mall in Lahore, which has become a recognisable urban landmark in its own right.
But Packages was only the beginning. Much of SBA’s legacy is defined by a sustained pattern of institution-building and international joint ventures, many of them shaped through long-standing relationships, most notably with the Swedish Rausing family. These ties proved foundational to ventures such as Packages itself, Tetra Pak and Coca-Cola Beverages Pakistan Limited.
SBA is also the founder of Milkpak Limited, which later evolved into a joint venture and is now part of Nestlé, one of the largest food processing companies in the country today. He established Tetra Pak Pakistan Limited as the local arm of the global Swedish liquid food packaging company. His footprint extended further into the financial and industrial sectors, including the International General Insurance (IGI) Group, where he served as chairman.
During Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s era, in the 1970s, five family companies — Ali Automobiles Limited, Wazir Ali Engineering Limited, Wazir Ali Industries Limited, Treet Corporation and the life insurance arm of International General Insurance Company — were nationalised. Faced with the possibility that Packages itself might be nationalised, his family urged him to accept a public role as chairman of the National Fertiliser Corporation in the 1970s.
“The question is whether you get nationalised or Packages Limited,” his brothers told him, SBA recounts in his book. He accepted, albeit reluctantly. But it would possibly sow the seeds of public service in his mind.
Throughout his career, he also held leadership roles or board positions at companies such as Sanofi-Aventis, Siemens, Unilever, and Mitchell’s Fruit Farms, and served as an adviser in Pakistan to American Express — a portfolio too extensive to fully map in a single narrative, dotted with public service. But those who have worked with him readily sing his praises, not only for his astute powers of focusing on the important things but for his constant concern about others.
One person who has worked with him recalls how, when a large multinational was downsizing, SBA came all the way to meet the multinational’s managing director to ask him if he could somehow help him change his mind or if there were investments he could mobilise to avoid “a lot of people losing their jobs.”
Ishrat Husain, who served as the governor of the State Bank of Pakistan from 1999-2006 and as the dean of the Institute of Business Administration (IBA) from 2008-2016, says, “I have observed that most foreign companies that visit Pakistan for joint ventures with local companies end up overwhelmingly choosing Syed Babar Ali. He has built an incredible reputation over several decades of integrity, ethical behaviour and a progressive outlook. These traits are not only confined to business but to all facets of his life, be it in the realm of government, education, philanthropy, art and culture etc.”
SBA would answer the government’s call, once more, in 1993, serving as the caretaker finance minister. During his short tenure, he stepped back from his business roles but remained engaged in non-profit work, particularly with the World Wide Fund for Nature, whose Pakistani arm he was instrumental in setting up.
A LEGACY OF LEARNING AND LUMS
The story of the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) is destined to be SBA’s enduring legacy, inseparable from the story of a man who spent his life learning from others.
Having business in his veins — his father and uncle started off as canteen contractors for the British army before setting up Wazir Ali Industries in 1953 — SBA was well aware of the need for good managers for the success of any operation, be it in the private sector or in the government.
“I also realised how great the dearth of good managers was in Pakistan and felt that this could be the single most important cause of the country’s inefficiency in many walks of life,” he tells Eos.
This led to the establishment of Lums — my alma mater and without a doubt one of Pakistan’s top universities.
Many well-known figures and institutions were involved in the formation of arguably one of the best business schools in the country — from then-president Gen Ziaul Haq to business tycoon Abdul Razak Dawood, the Pakistan Banking Council of the time, Bayer and Siemens — who contributed millions. But there was one recurring theme to all these involvements: it was SBA who convinced them all to contribute.
Even global events were serendipitous for the new university, with the first breakthrough coming with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. This led the US to announce $3.2 billion in financial assistance (worth roughly $13 billion today) to Pakistan. SBA made a beeline to the then-ambassador, Dean Hinton, and asked whether education fell within the ambit of economic assistance.
On the condition that a dollar be matched for every dollar received from the US, SBA was able to negotiate $10 million (about $40 million today) for Lums, helping make it the world-class institution it is today.
Using connections to further one’s interests is hardly unusual for people in positions of influence, but SBA has stated that he used “all [his] contacts everywhere to put pressure on local people” in furthering the cause of higher education. It was driven by his vision to create a class of people that would be an asset to the nation, not just graduates.
For example, when the Shaikh Ahmad Hassan School of Law was inaugurated in Lums in 2015, SBA announced that, “The objective should not be to produce litigators, its aim should be to produce the Nehrus, Gandhis and Jinnahs of this country.” This came from the man who had lunched with the Quaid, corresponded with Gandhi and wrote to Nehru.
Fellow businessman Abdul Razak Dawood, who served as Pakistan’s federal minister of commerce from 1999-2002 and is the pro-chancellor of Lums, reflects on his long association with SBA: “Syed Babar Ali convinced me to match his donation for Lums and there were eight others he also convinced. He taught me and others the need to learn and find new avenues. His concept of giving taught me that this journey is endless, it goes on and on.”
“Lums will continue hundreds of years in the future,” SBA tells Eos in what is a characteristic response. Even as he reflects on one of his greatest achievements, his gaze remains fixed on the generations yet to come.
WITNESSING A CENTURY
For a man as forward thinking as SBA, he understands the importance of history and has a strong grasp of it. Even more surprising is his sharp ability to recall details, which belies his age.
“I have seen it all,” he says. “The Partition that took place because England had gone bankrupt and could not retain its hold over the Subcontinent. The Independence Movement, which luckily gave us Pakistan, though we need to do better. And the separation of East Pakistan, which happened because we did not treat them properly — we should have respected their sentiments,” he says without mincing words.
Looking back over the decades, the centenarian believes Pakistan enjoyed its best leadership in the first five years after Independence. It was a period of patriotism when merit was valued, and corruption had yet to take root, he tells Eos. “Though the country had little, there was peace, purpose and an enthusiasm to make the newly minted nation a success.” People, he recalls, were not driven by greed.
But then times changed. “We got people who wanted to grab power, and everything started going downhill from there,” he laments.
His diagnosis of Pakistan’s problems, however, is not rooted in nostalgia. Rather, it has reinforced his conviction that the country’s future depends on investing in its people. Better health, better nutrition, better leadership, better institutions, and a better-educated citizenry remain, in his view, the surest path to national progress.
It is for this reason that the last three decades of his life have been focused on social work, particularly education across primary, secondary and university levels.
“You may have gold or oil in the ground, but that is worth nothing if you don’t have the ability to use it properly,” he says, emphasising the need for an educated leadership. “I have seen it in my experience with Lums, through which 25,000 young men and women have graduated.”
LIVES SPLIT, BUT FRIENDSHIPS SURVIVE
Dwelling on the tensions between India and Pakistan, SBA says that the countries could have worked together and done well. “But it was the narrow-mindedness of the people across the border that they didn’t have the generosity to treat us with kindness,” he tells Eos.
“They thought they could starve us,” he says, perhaps referring to the Canal Water Dispute in 1948. The hastily drawn Radcliffe Line divided the Punjab province, leaving the headwaters of vital irrigation canals in India’s control. In April 1948, when a temporary standstill agreement expired, India halted the flow of water to Pakistan’s canals, threatening agricultural collapse. This was resolved through the May 1948 Inter-Dominion Accord, in which India resumed supplies in exchange for payments, eventually leading to the Indus Waters Treaty in 1960.
Other than the water dispute that has lasted since Pakistan’s creation, there were economic blockages and conflicts over the division of financial reserves and military equipment. None of this, however, impacted SBA’s friendship with Harcharan Singh Brar, one of his oldest and closest friends, who served as Indian Punjab’s chief minister from 1995-96. They had studied together at Aitchison College and spent their early years in Lahore before Partition severed geography, but not memory. To this day, his friend’s family remains dear to SBA.
“I was once travelling with SBA to Delhi for a conference where he was chairing a session,” reminisces Dr Faisal Bari, a professor at Lums who has known SBA since 1991. “The way he was received by the grandchildren of Mr Brar shows how deep the relationship was with his old friend.”
Aitchison College recently dedicated a classroom in honour of one Mr Brar, with SBA joining the event online, in a tribute that shows some bonds can still transcend borders and entrenched enmities.
LOOKING AHEAD, FOREVER
Even today, as he approaches 100 years of age, SBA remains keen to contribute to the growth of the next generation.
“He has a remarkable ability to surround himself with accomplished young people, inspire them with purpose, and challenge them to think big for Pakistan,” says Dr Ali Cheema, who is the vice chancellor at Lums.
Speaking on the secret to SBA’s longevity, Husain states, “I think his purpose in life, dedication and service to the community, has been a source of mental energy and happiness.”
Of late, short clips of SBA have gone viral on social media, containing basic tips for students and young entrepreneurs. Others are distillations of lessons he has learned through his many ventures and interventions.
“Institution builder” is how Dr Ali Cheema describes him — not merely a business magnate and philanthropist, but someone who consistently channels his energy into creating and strengthening institutions that outlast individuals.
At 100, the tycoon’s outlook remains firmly anchored in hope for Pakistan’s youth. “And so I am very optimistic about the future, provided we have leaders who are thinking about Pakistan and not about themselves.”
The writer is the head of the weekly Business & Finance desk at Dawn
and a host of All Things Money.
X: @FatimaAttarwala
Published in Dawn, EOS, June 28th, 2026