Shahrukh Khan was born on 2 November 1965 in a Muslim family in New Delhi. His father, Meer Taj Mohammed Khan, was businessman and an Indian independence activist in Peshawar,(present-day Pakistan) and mother, Lateef Fatima, was Magistrate and social worker. He spent the first five years of his life in Mangalore, where his maternal grandfather, Ifthikar Ahmed, served as the chief engineer of the port in the 1960s. He has an elder sister, Shahnaz Lalarukh. He attended St. Columba's School in central Delhi where he excelled in his studies and in sports such as hockey and football and received the school's highest award, the Sword of Honor. He enrolled at Hansraj College (1985–88) to earn his bachelor's degree in Economics but spent much of his time at Delhi's Theatre Action Group (TAG), where he studied acting under the mentorship of theatre director Barry John. He also attended the National School of Drama in Delhi. He married Gauri Chibber, a Punjabi Hindu, in a traditional Hindu wedding ceremony on 25 October 1991. They have a son Aryan (born 1997) and a daughter Suhana (born 2000). In 2013, they became parents of a third child named Abram, who was born through a surrogate mother.
In 1989 series Fauji become his television debut. His film debut was in Deewana, as the second male lead which was released in June 1992 for which he won Filmfare Best Male Debut Award.
In 1999, Shahrukh Khan, Juhi Chawla and director Aziz Mirza came together to set up 'Dreamz Unlimited'. Their first venture was Phir Bhi Dil Hai Hindustani. In 2004, Shahrukh took over Dreamz Unlimited and transformed it into 'Red Chillies Entertainment' taking his wife Gauri on board as a producer. For his contributions to film, the Government of India honored him with the Padma Shri in 2005, and the Government of France awarded him both the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (2007) and the Légion d'honneur (2014). In 2008, Khan, in partnership with Juhi Chawla and her husband Jay Mehta, acquired ownership rights for the franchise representing Kolkata in the Twenty20 cricket tournament Indian Premier League (IPL) and named the team Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR). He was honored with UNESCO's Pyramide con Marni award in 2011 for his support of children's education and World Economic Forum's Crystal Award in 2018 for his leadership in championing women's and children's rights in India.