Syed Humayun Kabir

Kabir started his career in 1957 as an assistant manager at the Rashidpur Tea Estate in Sylhet.^[1] In 1963, he moved to Dhaka after he took the position of the plant manager of Pfizer in East Pakistan.^[1] After the independence of Bangladesh, he became the managing director of Pfizer, Bangladesh.^[5] He went on to take the role of CEO and after Pfizer sold the stake on their local enterprise to Kabir, it was reconstituted by him into a Bangladeshi company, Renata Limited.^[5]

Kabir served as an elected president of Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka in 1979-1980 and again, in 1984–1985.^[1] He became the chairperson of BRAC in 1982 and remained in the position for 19 years.^[3] He became the founding president of the American Bangladesh Economic Forum (ABEF) in 1988, which subsequently became American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) in 1996.^[1]

In 1993, Kabir created SAJIDA Foundation, a charitable organization in the name of his wife, as a gift of their 25th wedding anniversary.^[6] He donated 51 percent of his shares of Renata Pharmaceuticals to the foundation.^[3]

Kabir was a founding member and the chairman of the board of trustees of Transparency International Bangladesh.^[7][6][8]

Kabir served as chairman and president of Bangladesh Employers Association, Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industries, American-Bangladesh Economic Forum.. He was also board members of several banks, an insurance company and a trustee of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD).^[2]

Syed Humayun Kabir married Sajida Fahmi in c. 1968.^[1][5] She was a lecturer of architecture at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and later served as a member of boards of several organizations including National Association of Sports for Persons with Intellectual Disability (NASPD), Bangladesh Olympic Association, Dhaka Ahsania Mission and Diabetic Association of Bangladesh.^[9] They had a son, Kaiser Kabir, who later became the CEO of Renata Limited and two daughters, Sajeda Farisa Kabir, a barrister, and Zahida Fizza Kabir, CEO of SAJIDA Foundation.^[9][5]

Economist Rehman Sobhan was Kabir's cousin and media personality Sara Zaker was his niece.^[4][5]

Kabir died on 7 July 2015 at the age of 83 at Apollo Hospital, Dhaka.^[2][10][1]