Shahal M. Khan  Shahal M. Khan (born New York, United States) is an American venture capitalist and executive. He currently serves as executive chairman of Global Data Sentinel and as chairman of the board of White City Ventures. Khan is primarily known for his agreement to purchase the Plaza Hotel in New York City from the Sahara Group, alongside Kamran Hakim (one of NYC's largest landlords), for $600 million. Khan was one of the founders of Fortune Investment House, a Bahrain-based real estate investment bank, and Global Voice Telecom. He was CEO of Centile, a French software company based in Monaco, from 2004 to 2006. Khan helped found and served as vice chairman of Zebasolar, a solar energy company. He also served as a partner at GlobalTurk Capital, a Turkish merchant bank, from 2012 to 2016. In May 2018, Khan and Kamran Hakim, a prominent New York City landlord and property investor, entered into an agreement to purchase the Plaza Hotel, an historic and high-profile luxury property in Manhattan, for $600 million from Sahara India Pariwar, a London-based Indian conglomerate. The acquisition is partially financed through a $415 million loan from British real estate investors David and Simon Reuben. Khan was born in New York, United States, of Indian and Pakistani heritage. He received a bachelor's degree in economics from American University and a master's degree in international development from the Johns Hopkins University Nitze School of Advanced International Studies. Khan primarily resides in Washington, D.C., Dubai, and the Portuguese Riviera (Quinta da Beloura, Sintra).