Born in Kenya and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he is the son of Murad Velshi, an Indian business owner in Africa and then in Canada, and the first Indian-Canadian elected to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. He is an Ismaili Muslim.
Earned a degree in religious studies from Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario in 1994. Previously attended Toronto's Northern Secondary School, which has produced a number of internationally successful people in the television industry.
In 1996, was awarded a fellowship to the United States Congress from the American Political Science Association.
Joined the business news channel, CNNfn, in September 2001, in New York City. Anchored several shows before the network closed down in December 2004. Was then reassigned to the main United States CNN network.
I am very careful not to wantonly encourage people to join my industry or aspire to work in TV. I am certain that, generally speaking, the wage pressure in the television news industry is downward. When I'm interviewing people I ask them two or three times 'Is this really something you want?' They have to know what they're getting into.