Masood A. Razaq is Managing Director of Verdacore, a boutique advisory and project development firm based in Dubai. Verdacore primarily advises Gulf-based corporates on new ventures, corporate strategy, performance improvement, principal investments, and real estate.

Masood is also the founder of Goodgate Philanthropy, a social venture which enables strategic philanthropy across the Muslim world. In 2013, Goodgate was named by Forbes as one of “10 Middle Eastern Startups You Need to Know.”

Prior to establishing his advisory and philanthropic ventures, Masood was a Managing Director of Private Equity at Emirates NBD, the largest banking group in the Middle East. He previously served as Group Manager of Corporate Strategy at Microsoft in Seattle, and started his career as a consultant at A.T. Kearney and McKinsey & Company in London.

Masood received his A.B. magna cum laude in Government from Harvard University, an M. Phil with Honors in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge, and an M.B.A. with Distinction from the Harvard Business School. A dual national of Germany and Pakistan, Masood has lived in 10 countries in Europe, North America, and the Middle East.