Altaf Nazerali has had a successful international business career since he graduated from Columbia University with an MBA at age 20, a very successful feat in itself. He is a modest man who avoids the limelight even though his career is extremely successful.
He grew up in turbulent times, teaching him to take risks in life. Altaf Nazerali was born in Kenya, and grew up in the Congo during the time that European countries were returning power to African colonies for self-rule. These were dangerous times for non-black Africans in some countries. These troubles led the Nazerali family to move to Canada, along with thousands others who migrated due to similar conditions. The family has always highly valued education as it is something that once earned can never be taken away from you. Altaf was an excellent pupil in high school in the Congo, and set a goal of attending Columbia University in New York. He was accepted at 15, but there was one issue: New York law prohibited anyone under the age of 17 to live in the dorms, so the university did not think it wise for him to attend at 15. Altaf father wrote to the university and took full responsibility for his son. A few weeks later, he found himself in New York with his suitcase, $200 in his pocket, but no place to live. Altaf was comfortable taking risks though, and did eventually find a place to stay while attending college. He earned a Bachelor of Arts and MBA by the age of 20, something almost unheard of.
As he finished his college education, the part of his family that had remained in Africa was forced to leave, due to political events. As he was helping them relocate to Canada, he started looking for a job. The founder of GTE took a risk and hired Altaf Nazerali, believing he had what it takes to succeed even though he had no experience. This was the start of a very successful international business career.
Some highlights of his career include working on communications network and engineering projects in the Middle East and North Africa throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, then working based in Switzerland and Luxembourg in the mid-1980s on commodity-based financing projects. By 1988 he returned to Canada and served as a principal for a commodity futures trading company that had a top performing mutual fund in Canada from 1989-1991. In 1995 he founded Canbras Corp. and was one of the first entrants into the Brazilian subscription television market after its deregulation. Since 1991, he has served as a principal for Valor Invest Ltd., where he has worked on financing numerous companies throughout North America, Europe, and Japan.
Altaf Nazerali lives in Vancouver, Canada with his wife and youngest son. He has two adult children as well. His grown son has an Executive MBA from Duke University, and his grown daughter earned a Master’s in Public Health from Harvard University, continuing the family value of education.