After losing his fortune amassed as a construction contractor during the Iranian Revolution of 1979,[4] he immigrated to the United States with his brother Izak Parviz Nazarian, settling in Beverly Hills, California.

[2][5] Upon arriving in the United States in 1980, Younes Nazarian's entrepreneurial acumen led him to become co-owner of Stadco, a tool and die manufacturing company in the aerospace industry.

[5] As an early investor, he served on the Board of Directors of San Diego–based Qualcomm, a leader in wireless telecommunications, R&D, and the largest fabless chip supplier in the world.

Younes Nazarian was the former chairman of the board of governors of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (JAMD) and the Haifa Foundation.

[8] The Younes and Soraya Nazarian Pre-Academic Library Of the Ima Foundation at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is also named in his honor.

[11][12] Younes Nazarian endowed the Beit Midrash Fellowship at the Milken Community High School in Bel Air.

[5] He has also endowed the Younes & Soraya Nazarian Center for Israel Studies at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

[5] Younes Nazarian served on the Advisory Board of the Center for Middle East Public Policy at the RAND Corporation.