Muslim American executives run some of the largest privately held firms in the United States. A yogurt maker reshaped the dairy aisle. A defense contractor builds spacecraft. Their businesses span food, finance, technology, retail, and aerospace. Their faith backgrounds range from devoutly observant to culturally Muslim. What follows profiles several of the most prominent figures, the enterprises they lead, the networks that support Muslim entrepreneurs, and the role religion plays in their work.
The American Muslim business community is not a monolith. It includes Turkish-born founders, Pakistani-American executives, and second-generation immigrants. Some leaders publicly credit Islamic ethics for their hiring practices. Others treat faith as a private matter and let the numbers speak. Both approaches are covered.
Hamdi Ulukaya and Chobani
Hamdi Ulukaya, a Turkish immigrant who arrived in the United States in 1994, founded Chobani in 2005 in upstate New York. The company popularized Greek yogurt in the American mass market, taking a niche import and turning it into a category worth billions of dollars in annual retail sales. Chobani remained private as of June 2024, with Ulukaya as chief executive and controlling shareholder.
Ulukaya has been public about his Kurdish background and Muslim upbringing. He made news for hiring refugees at Chobani's plants, a policy he described as a moral decision and a practical solution to labor shortages. The workforce spans more than 20 countries. He signed the Giving Pledge in 2016, committing to donate the majority of his wealth to philanthropic causes.
Eren and Fatih Ozmen at Sierra Nevada Corporation
Eren Ozmen, a Turkish-American businesswoman, is co-owner and president of Sierra Nevada Corporation, a privately held aerospace and defense contractor based in Sparks, Nevada. She founded the company with her husband Fatih Ozmen, who serves as chief executive.
Sierra Nevada builds satellite systems, aircraft modification platforms, and the Dream Chaser spaceplane, contracted by NASA to deliver cargo to the International Space Station. The Ozmens purchased the firm in 1994 when it was a small engineering shop with 20 employees. By June 2024, it employed more than 4,000 people. Eren Ozmen is one of a very small number of Muslim women to own and operate a major American defense contractor.
She has served on the board of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and as a member of the Defense Business Board.
Farooq Kathwari and Ethan Allen Interiors
Farooq Kathwari is the Pakistani-American chairman, president, and chief executive of Ethan Allen Interiors, the furniture retailer and manufacturer based in Danbury, Connecticut. He joined the firm in 1981 and was named chief executive in 1985, a tenure that makes him one of the longest-serving chief executives in the American retail furniture sector.
Under Kathwari's leadership, Ethan Allen shifted from a network of independent licensees to a vertically integrated operation that owns its manufacturing, logistics, and retail stores. He refocused the brand on American-made furniture, opening or reopening factories in the United States. Kathwari has been active in conflict resolution and humanitarian work, serving as a board member of the International Rescue Committee. He was appointed a United Nations Goodwill Ambassador for refugees in 2006.
Mona Bijoor and JOOR
Building a fashion wholesale platform
Mona Bijoor founded JOOR in 2010, a wholesale marketplace that connects fashion brands with retailers. The platform processed billions of dollars in wholesale transactions annually, becoming the dominant digital wholesale platform for premium and luxury fashion.
Bootstrapping before venture capital
Bijoor, who is Muslim, built JOOR without outside venture capital for its first several years, bootstrapping until revenue made the business self-sustaining. She later raised funding from investors including Kingsway Capital, where she also serves as a partner.
Faith and business ethics
Bijoor has been public about the role of faith in her approach to business ethics, particularly around transparency and fairness in dealings with small retailers and emerging designers.
Sabiha Ansari and the American Muslim Consumer Consortium
Sabiha Ansari founded the American Muslim Consumer Conference in 2009 to bring together businesses, marketers, and community leaders focused on the Muslim American consumer market. The conference later evolved into the American Muslim Consumer Consortium, an organization that works with brands to understand and serve Muslim consumers in the United States.
The consortium has conducted market research that estimates the American Muslim consumer market at tens of billions of dollars annually in food, fashion, finance, and travel. Ansari's work has been cited by major brands adjusting product lines and marketing strategies to include halal-certified food, modest fashion, and Ramadan-oriented campaigns. The organization does not disclose membership figures, but it has partnered with firms ranging from food producers to financial institutions.
Shahed Amanullah and Affinis Labs
From hobby site to halal directory
Shahed Amanullah started Zabihah.com in the 1990s as a hobby website. It grew into the largest global directory of halal businesses.
Consulting on the halal economy
Amanullah later co-founded Affinis Labs, an innovation firm based in the San Francisco Bay Area that partners with corporations and governments on Muslim-oriented markets. Affinis Labs has worked with major brands on halal food certification, Muslim travel services, and digital platforms for Islamic finance. The firm consults for enterprises entering the halal economy, which encompasses food, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and logistics. It operates across North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia.
Islamic Finance: University Islamic Financial and Amana Mutual Funds
Sharia-compliant home financing
The Islamic finance sector in the United States has grown from a niche service to a recognized part of the financial industry. University Bank in Ann Arbor, Michigan, launched University Islamic Financial, a division that provides home financing that avoids interest payments, in line with Islamic prohibitions on riba, or usury. The division has operated since the early 2000s.
Equity funds with screens
Amana Mutual Funds Trust, based in Bellingham, Washington, manages equity funds that screen out corporations involved in alcohol, gambling, tobacco, weapons, and conventional financial services. The funds are among the oldest and largest Islamic mutual funds in the United States, with assets under management reported in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Faith, Leadership, and the American Market
Different postures toward public faith
The Muslim American business leaders profiled here take different approaches to faith in their work. Ulukaya centers his refugee hiring and philanthropic commitments in his public identity. Ozmen and Kathwari are less vocal about Islam in their corporate roles, preferring to let the performance of their firms speak. Bijoor and Amanullah operate explicitly in Muslim-facing markets.
A demographic that draws marketers
All of them operate within a broader American economy where Muslim consumers represent a growing segment. The American Muslim Consumer Consortium estimates that the demographic is younger and more educated than the U.S. average, factors that make it attractive to marketers.
Identity shaping culture
Chobani and Sierra Nevada do not market specifically to Muslim Americans, but their leaders' identities have shaped the culture of those enterprises in ways that sometimes align with broader social values: community investment, long-term thinking, and risk tolerance.
