Firoz Merchant

Firoz Merchant (born 1958) is an Indian businessman and philanthropist based in Dubai, founder and chairman of the Pure Gold Group, whose Pure Gold Jewellers he established in 1989. He is widely known in the Emirates for his "Forgotten Society" initiative, which since 2008 has settled the debts of insolvent prisoners so that they can be released, and for charitable campaigns timed to Ramadan. ^{1 2}

Merchant was born in 1958; no text read gives a day or month. ^{1 3} Press profiles of him describe a school dropout in Mumbai who moved to Dubai in 1989 and built his business there. ¹ His philanthropy is framed in its own reporting in Ramadan terms: he describes the prisoner releases as carrying humility, humanity, forgiveness and kindness during the holy month, and coverage also records mosque construction across the seven emirates among his community projects. ²

Merchant founded Pure Gold Jewellers in Dubai in 1989 and heads the Pure Gold Group as its founder and chairman. ¹ Since 2008 his Forgotten Society initiative has paid the debts of insolvent prisoners across the Emirates so that they can be freed; the Times of India put the releases at more than 20,000 by February 2026, with the drives peaking each Ramadan so that prisoners can return to their homes before the holy month, in partnership with bodies such as the Khalifa Foundation and Dubai Charity Association. ^{2 1} He received UAE and Indian business awards in 2016 and 2017, including recognition among the Forbes Middle East lists of Indian owners in the Arab world. ¹

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