IF HE wasn't so nice, there are so many reasons why people might really hate Azeem Ibrahim.
For the Cambridge and Harvard graduate just seems too good to be true.
If the information that he launched his own successful investment bank at the age of 27 wasn't enough to prompt a fit of jealous rage in young entrepreneurs everywhere, per
haps the fact that his personal fortune is currently estimated to be more than £60 million would be.
And the green-eyed monster would surely pay a visit to any ambitious business person who spotted Ibrahim's bulging contacts book, which includes the prime minister of Turkey and a string of Gulf State leaders – for who he has acted as a special advisor – and George Bush, who invited him as a guest at the White House last summer.
And even the most altruistic of readers must feel a tiny twinge of envy at the financial tycoon's jet-set lifestyle, which sees him split his time between his close-knit Glasgow family , his Chicago home where he lives with his paediatrician wife and young daughter and the sunny paradise of Dubai – where most of his business interests are based.
But, despite all of this, it is impossible to feel even a smidgen of dislike for a man who has decided that, at the ripe old age of 32, he has reached all of his major goals in terms of making money – and now wants to focus on helping others less fortunate than himself.
In order to free up more time to do that, Ibrahim has revealed to The Scotsman that he is currently in talks to sell off his investment bank – the European Commerce & Mercantile Bank (ECM) – to a Bahrain-based rival.
And from now on, he plans to channel his energies into charitable work and his global advisory roles, as well as keeping an eye on his successful hedge fund, ECM Investment.
His own charity, the Ibrahim Foundation, works to improve community life around the UK, while he also runs Unity Family Services – Scotland's only family guidance and support charity aimed specifically at the Muslim community.
And he was last week appointed to the Prime Minister's task force examining "social mobility" in the UK – essentially helping people from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve their full potential in the business world. The panel, where he will sit alongside Michael Grade, executive chairman of ITV and top publisher Gail Rebuck, will be chaired by former cabinet minister Alan Milburn. Ibrahim says: "I am actually quite happy doing the work that I'm currently doing, in terms of not-for-profit stuff.
"I have had a great deal of financial success in the past and I am very happy with that and comfortable with the level I have already achieved. Money for me is not an end within itself – it is more what I can do with it."
Of course, his advice is not always directed at people on the bottom rung of the entrepreneurial ladder.
He is an active member of several US and UK think-tanks and academic institutions, while he is also a full member of the Institute of Directors.
Ibrahim has acted as an adviser to numerous heads of state and is also a member of the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy's Dean's International Council, which acts as an advisory group for new policy initiatives and resource development for governments around the globe.
His work for the social mobility task force will see him examine what obstacles stand in the way of youngsters from disadvantaged backgrounds in fulfilling professional ambitions.
He says: "I will make some recommendations based on what I find out and hopefully make things better for people from disadvantaged backgrounds. My remit is to look at the opportunities available within the financial sector to all people – irrespective of their backgrounds.
"I come from a relatively humble background myself and have been fortunate enough to be very successful and I want to give something back."
And the "relatively humble" background was the inspiration behind Ibrahim's driven ambition.
His parents, Mohammed and Khurshida Ibrahim, who moved to Glasgow from Lahore in Pakistan before he was born, ran a shop in Maryhill Road in Glasgow until a supermarket opening nearby forced them to close and move from the family home in Garnethill to a council house in Anderston.
A pupil at Hillhead High School, he dabbled in investments in his teens and soon moved into the big time.
He launched ECM Holdings, a private offshore bank specialising in accounts for commodity traders – which has recently been valued at more than $100m (£67m) by independent auditors – in 2004 following a stint running his own IT consultancy from 1997.
While Ibrahim will not disclose details of he potential buyer's identity, he admits that the deal is imminent as he reveals he is about to set off to Bahrain to put the final touches to a deal with ECM's suitors.
His hedge fund, registered in London and regulated by the Financial Services Authority, has remained fairly resilient in the credit crunch, Ibrahim claims – a fact which he puts down to the broadly Islamic principles he uses in the business.
He says: "We just don't use leverage – whereas some hedge funds are leveraging up to 50 times. We follow quite strict ethical and Islamic principles in business as a lot of our clients are in the far east. We don't borrow money to invest, so we have weathered the storm quite well."
The fund has experienced relatively flat growth in the past year, but he expects it to pick up again in the first half of 2009 and grow strongly throughout 2010.
However, although he will keep a watchful eye on the fund, his role will be fairly detached.
"I have a fairly strategic involvement, so it will leave me free to do plenty of non-profit work," he enthuses.
"I want to do what I can to invest in education for disadvantaged children. I'm very enthusiastic about the education aspect, running courses and so on, because education is a key to bringing about change in society."
He last year set up the Ibrahim Foundation, in memory of his late father, Mohammad Ibrahim, giving out grants of up to £10,000 to benefit communities.
And he recently achieved charity status for Unity Family Services, which is based in Glasgow.
He explains: "Breakdown in Asian families is usually overlooked because of the cultural baggage and background. But family breakdown is a big problem and can make children much more likely to struggle at school."
But despite his success, Ibrahim's feet are firmly on the ground. "It's not like I have a formula for this kind of stuff – a formula for success," he laughs. "I think I was just very fortunate. I knew what I wanted to do – and I had a lot of support from family and made a very supportive group of friends from a very early age.
"I spend most of my time in Scotland – when I stay with my family in Glasgow.
"I love coming to visit them – it's such a privilege to have them all around me."
No, however hard you try, you really can't hate Azeem Ibrahim.
