KARIM ALIBHAI

FOUNDER & PRINCIPAL, GENCOM, MIAMI

Kenya-born Karim Alibhai says he had no plans to come to the United States as a young man. But after visiting an uncle in Houston during the 1980s, he found himself working at the uncle’s Best Western hotel, ultimately taking over its management while still a Rice University undergraduate. Alibhai quickly amassed more than a dozen other hotel properties that were available in the wake of the savings and loan collapse. He founded Gencom, a hotel management company, which today has nearly $8 billion in assets under management and 40 employees at its Miami base. Alibhai is focused on buying, developing and operating luxury mixed-use hotels, including Miami’s Ritz-Carlton Key Biscayne, and is teaming with Hyatt and Arquitectonica on the upcoming Miami Riverbridge.