The global investment group that he founded in 1982, which he is the president and chief executive, operates out of New York, London and Bahrain specialising in investments in the US and Western Europe. It has recently expanded total funds under management to more than US$10bn. Mr. Kirdar has an estimated 20% of the firms shares.

The firm offers four lines of alternative investment products: private equity, real estate investment, hedge funds and venture capital, and manages total investments in alternative assets. Investcorp is best known for investing in luxury retail names, including Gucci, Tiffany and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Mr. Kirdar began his banking career in New York in 1969 and from 1976 to 1981, as Vice President, he directed Chase Manhattan Banks network in the Arabian Gulf countries. In his civic activities, Mr. Kirdar is a Member of the UN Investments Committee overseeing the UN Pension Fund and a member of the Board of Directors of Georgetown University, Washington DC.

He serves on Visiting Boards at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and at the Edmund A Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and on the Advisory Boards at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University and at the Judge Business School at the University of Cambridge.

He also serves on the board of the Qatar Financial Centre Authority. Kirdar is a Member of the Board of International Councilors at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, Washington DC, a Member of the Board of Trustees, Eisenhower Exchange Fellowship, Philadelphia, and is a founding member of the International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.