Rahim Aga Khan

Shah Rahim al-Hussaini (born 12 October 1971), known simply as Aga Khan V, is the 50th Imam of the Nizari Isma'ilis since 2025. He is a philanthropist and businessman, who inherited the Nizari imamate and the title of Aga Khan upon the death of his father, Shah Karim al-Hussaini (Aga Khan IV).

He is the second of four children of Shah Karim al-Husseini, who went by the title Aga Khan IV, and succeeded as the Nizari Imam following his father's death on 4 February 2025. He is the fifth person in the family to hold the title Aga Khan. Upon assuming the Imamate, he inherited his father's estate, which was valued at over US$13.3 billion by Vanity Fair in 2013.

Early life and education

Rahim Aga Khan was born on 12 October 1971, in Geneva, Switzerland. He is the eldest son and second oldest of three children born to Shah Karim al-Husseini (Aga Khan IV) and his first wife Salimah Aga Khan (née Sarah Croker-Poole), a British national.

Rahim was educated in the United States, receiving his secondary education at Phillips Academy Andover, Massachusetts from which he graduated in 1990, before graduating from Brown University with a bachelor's degree in comparative literature in 1995. In 2006 he completed graduate studies in management and administration in Barcelona, Spain, at the IESE Business School University of Navarra.

Based in Geneva, Switzerland, Rahim has been involved for many years in the governance of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), where he chaired the AKDN Environment and Climate Committee.

In 2019, Rahim sat on either the Board or Executive Committee for several of AKDN agencies and affiliated structures, including the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development, and the Aga Khan University Foundation.

In 2010, he established the Aga Khan Brown Workshop series at the Watson Institute.

Succession to the Imamate

Shah Rahim al-Hussaini, who had been designated successor by his father, was publicly announced as the 50th Imam following his father's death on 4 February 2025. The announcement took place after the reading of Shah Karim al-Husseini’s will at the Ismaili Centre in Lisbon. According to Nizari Ismaili tradition, leadership passes through designation by the previous Imam.

Personal life

Rahim married Kendra Irene Spears on 31 August 2013 in Geneva. They have two children: Irfan (b. 11 April 2015) and Sinan (b. 2 January 2017). In 2019, he bought a house in Unstad in Vestvågøy Municipality, Norway. The couple divorced in February 2022.

The style of His Highness was granted to Shah Rahim by King Charles III on 10 February 2025.

Hashemite ancestry

Patrilineal descent

Shah Rahim al-Hussaini Aga Khan's patriline is the line from which he is descended father to son.

Nizari Imams of the Fatimid Dynasty Adnan Ma'ad ibn Adnan Nizar ibn Ma'ad Mudar ibn Nizar Ilyas ibn Mudar Mudrikah ibn Ilyas Khuzayma ibn Mudrika Kinanah ibn Khuzayma An-Nadr ibn Kinanah Malik ibn Al-Nadr Fihr ibn Malik Ghalib ibn Fihr Lu'ayy ibn Ghalib Ka'b ibn Lu'ayy Murrah ibn Ka'b Kilab ibn Murrah b. ca. 372 Qusay ibn Kilab ca. 400–ca. 480 Abd Manaf ibn Qusai Hashim ibn Abd Manaf, ca. 464–ca. 497 Abd al-Muttalib, ca. 497–578 Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib, 535–619 4th Caliph and 1st Imam Ali ibn Abu Talib, 601–661, cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Muhammad 2nd Imam Husayn ibn Ali, 626–680 3rd Imam Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin, 659–713 4th Imam Muhammad al-Baqir, 677–733 5th Imam Jafar al-Sadiq, ca. 702–765 6th Imam Ismail ibn Jafar, ca. 722–ca. 762 7th Imam Muhammad ibn Ismail, 740–813 8th Imam Ahmad al-Wafi, 795/796–827/828 9th Imam Muhammad at-Taqi (Isma'ili), 813/814–839/840 10th Imam Radi Abdullah, 832–881 11th Imam Caliph Abdullah al-Mahdi Billah, 873–934 12th Imam Caliph Al-Qa'im, 893–946 13th Imam Caliph Al-Mansur Billah, 914–953 14th Imam Caliph Al-Mu'izz li-Din Allah, 932–975 15th Imam Caliph Al-Aziz Billah, 955–996 16th Imam Caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, 985–1021 17th Imam Caliph Ali az-Zahir, 1005–1036 18th Imam Caliph Al-Mustansir Billah, 1029–1094 19th Imam Nizar al-Mustafa, 1045–1095 20th Imam Ali Al-Husayn Al-Hadi, 1076–1132 21st Imam Al-Muhtadi, Muhammad I, 1106–1157 22nd Imam Al-Qahir, Hasan I, 1126–1162 23rd Imam Hassan II of Alamut (also referred to as ʿAlā Dhikrihi's-Salām), 1142/1145–1166 24th Imam Muhammad II of Alamut, 1148–1210 25th Imam Hassan III of Alamut, 1187–1221 26th Imam Muhammad III of Alamut, 1211–1255 27th Imam Rukn al-Din Khurshah, ca. 1230–1256/1257 28th Imam Shams al-Din (Nizari), 1257–1310 29th Imam Qasim Shah, 1310–1368 30th Imam Islam Shah, d. 1424 31st Imam Muhammad ibn Islam Shah, d. 1464 32nd Imam Ali Shah Qalandar, al-Mustansir Billah II, d. 1480 33rd Imam Abd-us-Salam Shah, d. 1494 34th Imam Abbas Shah Gharib, al-Mustansir Billah III, d. 1498 35th Imam Abuzar Ali Nur Shah, d. ca. 1509 36th Imam Murād Mīrzā, d. 1574 37th Imam Dhu'l-Fiqar Ali Zulfiqar Ali, Khalilullah I, d. 1634 38th Imam Nur al-Din Ali, d. 1671 39th Imam Ali, Khalilullah II, d. 1680 40th Imam Shah Nizar II, d. 1722 41st Imam Sayed Ali, d. ca. 1736 42nd Imam Al-Hassan Ali Beg, d. ca. 1747 43rd Imam Sayed Jafar, Al-Qasim Ali, d. ca. 1756 44th Imam Abū-l-Hasan ʻAlī, d. 1792 45th Imam Shah Khalilullah III, 1740–1817 46th Imam Hasan Ali Shah, Aga Khan I, 1804–1881 47th Imam Aqa Ali Shah, Aga Khan II, 1830–1885 48th Imam Sultan Muhammad Shah, Aga Khan III, 1877–1957 Aly Khan, 1911–1960 49th Imam Shah Karim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan IV, 1936–2025 50th Imam Shah Rahim al-Hussaini, Aga Khan V, 1971–

Titles, Styles and Honours Honours

Awards Symbolic Key to the City of Aswan by the Governor of Aswan (9 February 2025) Symbolic Key to the City of Sugar Land, Texas by the Mayor of Sugar Land (5 November 2025) Symbolic Key to the City of Houston by the Mayor of Houston (5 November 2025) Symbolic Key to the City of Dallas by the Mayor of Dallas (9 November 2025) Symbolic Key to the City of Carrollton by the Mayor of Carrollton (9 November 2025) Civic Merit Award by the Mayor of Vancouver (26 July 2026) Honorary Citizenship of Arzachena, Sardinia, Italy by the Mayor of Arzachena (9 July 2026)