Prince Rahim al-Hussaini, a son of the Aga Khan IV, was named as his successor on Wednesday, inheriting the role of the spiritual leader of millions of Ismaili Muslims around the world.
The late Aga Khan, 88 — a billionaire who was known for both his entrepreneurship and his philanthropy — died on Tuesday. Prince Rahim was named as his successor after the unsealing of his will, according to the Aga Khan Development Network.
Prince Rahim, who is the Aga Khan V, will take the reins of a Shiite Muslim lineage that claims descent from the Prophet Muhammad. Ismaili Muslims, numbering 12 million to 15 million, live in more than 35 countries including Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.
His family and the Ismaili institutions are stunningly wealthy: Estimates of the fortune have ranged from $1 billion to $13 billion, with diverse holdings ranging from airlines to racehorses to newspapers. The Aga Khan IV was one of the world’s wealthiest hereditary rulers, with some of the money coming from a kind of tithe levied on his followers.
He was known as a jet-setter who bred horses and was friends with royalty. But the family and the Ismaili community are also well known for operating humanitarian institutions across the world, including hospitals and universities.
In naming his son as his successor, the late Aga Khan has realigned the family with tradition.
His grandfather, the Aga Khan III, skipped over other descendants in 1957 to name him as a successor, pointing to the need for a young man’s mind-set to meet a rapidly changing world. At the time, his grandson was a 20-year-old student of Islamic history at Harvard.
