Mian Muhammad Sharif

In 2000, Sharif's family was exiled to Saudi Arabia by then Chief of Army Staff Pervez Musharraf. He died of a cardiac arrest in Jeddah, in 19 October 2004, at the age of 84. Sharif was suffering from chronic heart disease and underwent angioplasty twice. In 1982, he had his first heart bypass. His funeral took place in Masjid al-Haram on 30 October 2004. He is buried in Raiwind, Allama Iqbal Town, Lahore.

In 1939, Sharif founded a small steel foundry with borrowed money. His business was among the largest businesses in Punjab, only after BECO Engineering. Shehbaz Sharif also admitted that they were not the richest family and his father was a poor farmer from India, and he started their family business from the scratch.

Mian Muhammad Sharif (Punjabi, Urdu: محمد شریف ;18 November 1919 – 19 October 2004) was a Pakistani businessman who is known as the co-founder of Ittefaq Group and founder of Sharif Group. Two of his three sons, Nawaz and Shehbaz became Prime Ministers of Pakistan.

Sharif was born in 1919 to Mian Mohammad Baksh, into a Butt trader family in Jati Umra (Amritsar) to ancestors who migrated from Anantnag in Jammu and Kashmir. He was one among seven brothers. According to credible sources, he did his schooling in eastern Punjab, then he moved to Lahore for his college education, he studied in DAV College, Lahore. In 1936, the family relocated to Lahore for better economic opportunities. Sharif used to work as a laborer in a steel factory in Lahore, owned by a Hindu businessman. He later attributed most of his success and learnings to the caring and generosity of said businessman.