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India might have not scaled up the list of the world’s most developed nations, but it definitely has produced some of the finest and most successful business minds. The country is home to thousands of millionaires, most of whom are business tycoons. The Ambani brothers- Mukesh and Anil, Ratan Tata, Vijay Mallya, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, and Deepak Parekh are few of the many famous entrepreneurs produced by the country. Their business empires are not just confined to India, but are spread across different continents. However, we should not forget that Globalization did play a significant role in the financial growth of these individuals. They are also credited for having reduced the employment woes of the youth to a certain extent, by opening plenty of doors for the average ‘well-educated, yet unemployed’ man through their firms. The lavish lifestyles of some of these entrepreneurs have also grabbed the attention of the paparazzi from all across the globe, including the west. The successes of these individuals have started a new wave of entrepreneurship in India. This is a positive change in a nation which has otherwise been heavily dependent on government jobs for decades. Read on and find all about their life stories, timelines and also acquaint yourselves with some interesting facts & trivia related to their lives.
The richest person in Asia, Mukesh Ambani is an Indian billionaire business magnate. He is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL). The son legendary Dhirubhai Ambani, he started his career by helping his father build their family business. As of today, he is the only Indian businessman on Forbes' list of the world's most powerful people.
Ratan Tata is a well-known Indian industrialist and the former charman of Indian multinational conglomerate Tata Sons. His reign as chairman was marked by acquisitions of iconic global brands, such as Tetley, Jaguar Land Rover and Corus by the Tata Group. Ratan Tata was instrumental in turning Tata Group from a largely India-centrist group into a global business.
Satya Nadella is an Indian-American business executive, currently serving as the chief executive officer of Microsoft. Since he became CEO, the company has seen a 27% annual growth rate. Born in India to a Telugu-speaking family, Nadella serves as an inspiration to millions of Indians who nurse 'The American Dream'.
Dhirubhai Ambani was an Indian business tycoon. He is credited with founding Reliance Industries, which is currently the largest company in the country in terms of revenue. Dhirubhai Ambani's life and career inspired the 2007 drama film Guru, in which his character was portrayed by Abhishek Bachchan.
Indra Nooyi is an Indian-American business executive known for her association with PepsiCo where she served as the chief executive officer from 2006 to 2018. Often ranked among the most powerful women, Nooyi was named in Forbes' World's 100 Most Powerful Women list in 2014. In 2017, she was named in the magazine's 19 Most Powerful Women in Business list.
Lakshmi Mittal is an Indian business magnate who is the executive chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world's largest steel-making company. He is also the chairman of the stainless steel manufacturer Aperam. His father ran a steel business, which he expanded on an international level. He constantly features in list of the richest persons in the world.
Gautam Adani, the second-richest man in India, as of 2019, is the chairman of the Adani Group, which he established in 1988. The group specializes in port development and later diversified into logistics, agriculture, energy, and other areas. Adani and his wife, Priti, lead the non-profit Adani Foundation.
Biocon founder and chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is a self-made billionaire entrepreneur who made it to Forbes’s Power Women 2020 list. Though she initially wished to be a brewer like her father, she later drifted to the biochemical industry. Apart from revolutionizing the Indian biopharma market, she also heads a charitable organization.
Business magnate Azim Premji revolutionized the Indian software industry with Wipro Limited. Twice listed to Time 100, he transformed his vegetable oil and soap manufacturing company to a leading IT solutions brand, through marked diversification. He owns a non-profit foundation and is the first Indian to join The Giving Pledge.
Indian businessman Anil Ambani is the chairman of Reliance Group. Once the sixth richest person in the world, he declared bankruptcy in early 2020 though the veracity of his claim is questionable. He has served in the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India. He has been involved in many controversies.
Indian business magnate and ex-politician Vijay Mallya, known for his flamboyant lifestyle, has donned many hats, from running the largest alcohol company in India; to owning a cricket team and an F-1 team; to launching an airline. Following a financial fraud scandal, he is now facing extradition from the U.K.
Shiva Ayyadurai is an Indian-American engineer, scientist, and entrepreneur. He gained recognition after claiming to be the inventor of email, which is widely disputed even today. His claim is based on a software called EMAIL, which he wrote while studying at Livingston High School in the late-1970s. He is also known for his unfounded medical claims, including treatments for COVID-19.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was an Indian investor and businessman. One of the richest businessmen in India, Jhunjhunwala was referred to as the King of Bull Market and the Warren Buffett of India. He served as the chairman of Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd and Aptech Limited. He was a promoter of India's newest airline, Akasa Air.
Tina Ambani is an Indian former actress who has appeared in popular Hindi films like Rocky, Wanted: Dead or Alive, and Deedar-E-Yaar. Best known as the wife of popular businessman Anil Ambani, Tina serves as the chairperson of Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Harmony Art Foundation, and Harmony for Silvers Foundation.
Gulshan Kumar was an Indian film and music producer who founded the Super Cassettes Industries Limited (T-Series) music label. Born into a middle-class household, he started working as a young boy and helped his father in his audio cassette shop. He eventually launched his own music label. He was murdered by gangsters in 1997.
Kumar Mangalam Birla is an Indian industrialist best known as the chairman of the Indian multinational conglomerate company, Aditya Birla Group. He also serves as the chairman of IIM Ahmedabad and IIT Delhi. Over the course of his career, Birla has received several honors like the Business Leader of the Year award and Outstanding Business Man of the Year award.
Padma Bhushan-winning Indian billionaire businessman Shiv Nadar is known as the founder and chairman of the IT company HCL and the Shiv Nadar Foundation. While he transformed HCL from an IT hardware company into an IT enterprise, by 2021, he also turned himself into the third-richest Indian.
Indian-born businessman Cyrus Pallonji Mistry, son of billionaire Pallonji Mistry of the Shapoorji Pallonji group and an influential member of Mumbai’s Parsi community, chaired the Tata Group briefly. He was, however, voted out of his chairmanship over disagreements with the Tata family. Mistry is an Irish citizen through his Irish-born mother.
Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani is also the man behind the Indian biometric ID Aadhaar. Named to the Forbes list of India’s Richest in 2021, he also once teamed up with Ratan Tata to form Avanti Finance to help the poor get loans. He unsuccessfully contested as a Congress candidate, too.
Cyrus Poonawalla is an Indian businessman who is the chairman of the Poonawalla Group. He is also known as the “vaccine king of India” as his group owns Serum Institute of India that manufactures pediatric vaccines. He is also a generous philanthropist. In 2005, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the president of India.
Urjit Patel is an Indian economist. From 2016 to 2018, he served as the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. In 2018, he resigned stating personal reasons. He also became the fifth governor to have resigned before the completion of his term. Urjit Patel is the recipient of Yale University’s Wilbur Cross Medal.
Apoorva Mehta is a serial entrepreneur and a former Amazon.com employee. He founded the grocery delivery and pick-up service Instacart in 2012. An engineer by qualification, he tried to start at least 20 other services, including an ad network for social gaming companies, before launching Instacart. He was included in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in 2013.
