Renowned Pakistani businessman and media tycoon Zafar Siddiqui breathed his last on Friday in Dubai after succumbing to his battle with cancer.
He worked as an accountant with Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) for 18 years, initially as a partner and later as the managing director of one of its consulting practices. In the mid-1990s, he launched a TV production house in Pakistan, specializing in providing business programmes to overseas broadcasters.
He founded TeleBiz, a Pakistani TV production enterprise that specialized in giving foreign broadcasters access to exclusive business shows. Following that, he founded the CNBC business network in the Middle East, as well as CNBC Pakistan in 2005 and CNBC Africa in 2007. In addition, he was instrumental in the founding of Samaa TV, a 24-hour news and current affairs channel, in 2009.