Philanthropist and spiritual leader The Aga Khan no more

The Aga Khan, known for his triumphs in horse racing, dazzling wealth and development work around the world, has died in Lisbon at the age of 88, according to the Aga Khan Development Network on X.

The announcement of his designated successor will follow, the network said.

The 49th hereditary imam or spiritual leader of the world's 15 million Ismaili Muslims, his name also became synonymous with success as a racehorse owner, with the thoroughbred Shergar among his most famous.

The multi-millionaire, perhaps billionaire, also enjoyed a lavish lifestyle, characterised by private jets, a $200 million super-yacht and a private island in the Bahamas.

Estimates of his wealth varied from $800 million to $13 billion, with his money coming from his family inheritance, his horse breeding business and his personal investments in tourism and real estate.

The Aga Khan set up the Aga Khan Development Network in 1967. The group of international development agencies employs 80,000 people helping to build schools and hospitals and providing electricity for millions of people in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia.

He mixed his development work with private business, owning for example in Uganda a pharmaceutical company, a bank and a fishnet factory.

He was married twice, first in 1969 to former British model Sarah Croker Poole, with whom he had a daughter and two sons. The couple divorced in 1995.

In 1998 he married German-born Gabriele zu Leiningen, with whom he had a son. The couple divorced in 2014.