The House of Habib () is a Pakistani conglomerate company based in Karachi, Pakistan. The group was founded by Habib Esmail in Bombay (British Raj) in 1841. It is a prominent shia Khoja business family in Pakistan. History The company has history going back to 19th century, when it started as Khoja Mithabhai Nathoo in 1841 based in then Bombay as a family business. In 1891, a family member named Habib Esmail helped the company to expand. From this, company became a major trading firm. In 1921, his four sons joined the business when he established Habib & Sons which went on to become today's HBL Pakistan or Habib Bank Limited. The House of Habib holds an important place in Pakistan's early history. Habib Bank was shifted to Pakistan on the personal request of its first Governor General Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Mohammad Ali Habib came to the aid of the nascent state "even before the Government of Pakistan was ready to issue appropriate government paper" with a Rs 80 million loan when the Reserve Bank of India failed to deliver Pakistan share of Rs 900 million held by it. It is said that Mohammad Ali Habib gave a blank cheque on Lloyds Bank to Governor General Jinnah who wrote Rs 80 million in it. The Habib family set up offices in Vienna and Geneva as early as 1912 and incorporated Habib and Sons in 1921, which dealt in brass, metal scraps and gold with Lion of Ali and Zulfiqar embossed on it. The Habib Bank still used this as its insignia for a large part of its history. The house is run by the Rafiq Habib family and is not jointly with the Dawood Habib family, who, however, runs the Dawood Habib Group of Companies. Sons of Habib Esmail Ahmed Habib Dawood Habib Mohamedali Habib Ghulamali Habib Sons of Mahomedali Habib Rafiq Habib Suleman Habib Haider Habib H.M. Habib Companies The group owns following companies: Listed Toyota Indus Agriauto Industries Limited AuVitronics Limited Thal Limited Shabbir Tiles & Ceramics Limited Habib Insurance Company Limited Habib Metropolitan Bank a subsidiary of Habib Bank AG Zurich Unlisted Thal Boshoku Pakistan (Private) Limited Thal Engineering Habib Metro Pakistan (Private) Limited Agriauto Stamping Company (Private) Limited Thal Nova Power Thar (Private) Limited Educational institutes Habib Public School Habib University See Also List of largest conglomerates in Pakistan References External links House of Habib website