Millionaire killed on Titan sub left just £77,000 to wife because he had no will

Shahzada Dawood’s wife Christine has been left just £77,000 in UK assets (Picture: Getty/ Facebook)

The multimillionaire who died alongside his son on the doomed Titan sub only left his wife around £77,000 because he failed to write a UK will.

Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman were among five people killed instantly when the submersible imploded on its way to the Titanic wreck.

Shahzada was married to life coach Christine Dawood, and the pair had two children Suleman, 19, and a daughter, Alina.

The 48-year-old Pakistani was heir to the famous Dawood business dynasty and had an estimated net worth of around £285million.

His family business, based in Karachi, has an annual turn-over of £1.3billion.

But newly released probate documents show he did not make a valid UK will and therefore his wife only receives his UK estate – the Surrey home where she lives – worth £76,958.

The documents note that Shahzada was domiciled in Pakistan and it appears most of his fortune is tied up there, reports MailOnline.

Shahzada with his son Suleman (Picture: AFP/Getty Images)

Christine was originally going to go on the sub trip with her husband (Picture: Facebook)

Shahzada was the vice chairman of Dawood Hercules Corporation, a public investment holding company which invests in solutions for infrastructure, foods, agriculture and petrochemicals.

The company has been owned by the Dawood family for several decades and Shahzada joined in 1996.

He was also the shareholder director of the Engro Corporation and a board member of King Charles III’s Prince’s Trust charity.

Shahzada and Suleman were one hour and 45 minutes into their voyage to the seabed off the coast of Newfoundland on June 18, 2023, when contact with the Titan was lost.

Also onboard were French deep-sea explorer and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet, British businessman Hamish Harding and Stockton Rush, the CEO of Titan operator OceanGate.

A four day wait followed before debris was discovered and the victims’ loved ones learnt no one had survived.

Christine told The Mail last year: ‘The moment we knew they’d found debris and there were no survivors, Alina and I went on deck.

The Titan submersible, that imploded and killed all its occupants (Picture: AP)

‘I turned to her and said, ‘I’m a widow now.’ She said, ‘Yes, and I’m a single child.’ Then we cried even more.

‘No parent should have to grieve for their child. It’s unnatural. All of a sudden your purpose, your identity, is ripped away from you.’

Suleman was born in Karachi in 2004 and brought up in both Karachi and London.

He was studying business at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland before his death.

According to Shahzada’s sister Azmeh Dawood, Suleman ‘wasn’t very up for’ the voyage and felt ‘terrified’ but had wanted to please his dad.

Christine was originally supposed to be on the Titan, but let her son go instead as he had been fascinated with the Titanic.

The wreckage of the sub was found around 330 yards (300 metres) from the Titanic’s bow, according to Coast Guard officers.

Rear Admiral John Mauger, of the US Coast Guard, said the debris was  ‘consistent with a catastrophic loss of the pressure chamber’.

It’s believed the Titan’s occupants would have been killed in milliseconds.

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Image Credits and Reference: https://metro.co.uk/2025/01/10/millionaire-killed-titan-sub-left-just-77-000-wife-no-will-22336840/