Pakistan has a new reason to celebrate. Sualeh Asif, a 26-year-old from Karachi who represented Pakistan at international math olympiads before studying at MIT, has become a billionaire after his AI coding startup Cursor reached a $29.3 billion valuation.
Sualeh attended Nixor College in Karachi, graduating in 2018, before going on to study at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and Computer Science. He also represented Pakistan in the International Math Olympiad from 2016 to 2018.
He co-founded Cursor alongside fellow MIT students. The company develops an AI-powered coding assistant that helps software developers generate, edit, and optimize code using artificial intelligence. Major tech companies such as Nvidia, Adobe, Uber, and Shopify use Cursor in their work.
Asif now serves as Chief Product Officer and holds a 4.5% stake in the company worth at least $1.3 billion, making him Pakistan’s first dollar billionaire startup founder.
Former IT Minister Umar Saif praised Asif’s achievement, calling him a new generation role model for Pakistani youth, a self-made innovator who built an impactful global company through talent and hard work.
His story demonstrates what Pakistani talent can achieve when given a supportive innovation ecosystem. From the streets of Karachi to the Forbes Billionaires List, Sualeh Asif’s journey is truly an inspiration for every young Pakistani dreaming big.
