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Home , Azim Premji, Bajaj Group, Chanda Kochhar, Indra Nooyi, Nandan Nilekani, Niira Radia

1 > IN RETROSPECT PEOPLE IN THE HEADLINES Who gained, who lost, who made the front page, who set new trends, who raised the bar, who departed — portraits from the first decade and a half of the 21st century PIONEERING SPIRITS FIRST-GENERATION STARS

R C JUNEJA

Having worked with Lupin, Juneja started Mankind Pharma in 1995 and became a big player with his prescription drugs, and OTC and FMCG products. Has one of the largest armies of VIKRAM AKULA GORUR RAMASWAMY medical reps GOPINATH His market-based LALIT MODI microfinance model made Launched ’s first budget SKS Microfinance employees airline, Air Deccan, in 2003; sold Once king of the Indian Premier millionaires when it listed; to Kingfisher in 2007; launched League, now a fugitive as Indian he lost control in an internal first cargo express airline, Deccan investigative agencies scrutinise battle 360; closed in 2011 questionable financial deals

\ RAHUL BHATIA & TULSI TANTI RAKESH GANGWAL VIJAY SHEKHAR SHARMA Global headwinds made India’s wind The promoters of market energy pioneer default on debt raised to leader IndiGo redefined The creator of mobile- buy REPower; asset sales and equity from the low-cost aviation based payments in Dilip Shanghvi breathed into Suzlon business model in India, India is getting ready to being the only listed launch a payments KISHORE BIYANI airline to make a profit in bank by March 2016. recent years Founder of the Future Group, he is considered India’s Sam Walton. Often dismissive of internet-led business, he is focusing on an omni-channel to tackle online and offline competition

SACHIN BANSAL

The poster-boy of Indian e-commerce, the chief executive of Flipkart, co- BABA RAMDEV founded in 2007, has been at the top of The co-founder’s the sector for eight years The yoga guru seamlessly success with the graduated from Ayurveda to government’s mammoth FMCGs under his Patanjali unique identification K RADHAKRISHNAN brand, causing programme is changing multinationals As chairman of Indian Space Research the dynamics of subsidy heartburn, Organisation from 2009 to 2014, he made delivery especially after India a leading provider of low-cost BJP came to satellite launch technology power in 2014

EYE OF THE STORMS

RAJAT GUPTA

The first Indian-born JIGNESH SHAH managing partner of McKinsey, once feted by Promoter/creator the rich and powerful, is of high-tech serving a two-year prison commodity term for insider trading exchanges. It all blew up when NIIRA RADIA R K PACHAURI fraud surfaced at the National Spot Lobbyist extraordinaire with The head of climate think tank Teri Exchange Ltd SUBRATA ROY Reliance and Tata groups, tapes of was accused of sexual harassment her phone conversations in 2009 by a colleague but remains in The Sahara chief spent all of exposed the nexus between charge via a court stay order 2015 in Tihar jail. He had businessmen, despite being found guilty by an PHANEESH MURTHY RAMALINGA RAJU access to conference room journalists and internal committee facilities to negotiate with politicians Once known as the “other Murthy” in The feted promoter of buyers for properties to raise Infosys, he was fired in 2002 for sexual Satyam Computers fudged ~ 10,000 crore for bail. No harassment; became CEO of I-Gate but was accounts for seven years deals were struck and he is TARUN TEJPAL fired in 2013 on similar charges; is now before he confessed in back in his cell planning an online health marketplace January 2009. The The editor of exposés, createdTehelka his own government took charge , which built its reputation on KETAN PAREKH and sold the company to employee accused him of sexual assault tehelka in 2013 when a female Chief mover of the ICE bubble (1999-2000). PETER MUKERJEA Ran a circular trading scheme involving 10 stocks. Banned by Sebi until 2017 The former Star TV CEO’s controversial exit from NewsX pales beside his and his wife’s involvement in the murder of a stepdaughter he said he thought was his VIJAY MALLYA ARAJA sister-in-law The king of good times As telecom minister, SUDIPTO SEN falls on bad times as his the Dalit leader from airline folds, he loses DMK steamrolled all Architect of one of Bengal's biggest financial frauds, the control of USL, India’s opposition in 2007, P S SUBRAMANYAM Saradha group chairman defrauded thousands of small largest spirits maker, including from Prime depositors with illegal money pooling schemes that and banks struggle to Minister Manmohan The UTI Chairman whose arrest promised huge returns recoup ~ 5,000 crore Singh, to allocate helped destroy the institution’s from him inexpensive spectrum reputation as a haven for middle on a first-come, first- class investors served basis .

< IN RETROSPECT

GLOBAL INDIANS ANSHU JAIN The former co-CEO of Deutsche Bank AG was accused of misleading the German central bank on market manipulation, but was later absolved of all charges The first India-born CEO NIKESH ARORA of PepsiCo. Her stewardship since 2006 The 47-year-old was once the most powerful Google has seen steady revenue executive after the founders, but quit suddenly to growth and ’s stock join SoftBank and invested $483 mn in the company price rising after several flat years AJAY BANGA Harvard Business Mastercard’s CEO since 2011, he was the only Indian among the top 100 CEOs in Review’s list of Best Performing CEOs in the world this year ARUN SARIN SUNDAR PICHAI SATYA NADELLA As the CEO of Vodafone from 2003 to 2008, he Handpicked by Larry Page to head Google, the first pioneered its move into emerging markets in Africa Indian to head the search engine giant took In 2014, he became the and Asia. Sarin was instrumental in getting Vodafone charge in August 2015 as part of an organisational first Indian to be to India with the acquisition of Hutchison Essar restructuring appointed CEO of Microsoft, the world’s RAKESH KAPOOR largest software maker The first India-born CEO of , The BITS, Pilani and XLRI alumnus became the first he took charge of the crisis-ridden Indian chief executive of Reckitt Benckiser plc in 2011 bank in 2007; resigned in 2012 after a boardroom putsch

THE CHANGE AGENTS

NARENDRA MODI TRAILBLAZERS The former chief minister and current prime KAILASH SATYARTHI minister surpassed expectations by leading the The child rights activist, IN POLITICS to a who influenced ILO’s child labour guidelines, huge majority in the Lok won the 2014 Nobel Sabha, the first since 1984 Peace Prize with ’s Malala Yousafzai

MANMOHAN SINGH The two-term PM’s As president of the stewardship of the Indo- Congress, she re- MEDHA PATKAR US civil nuclear deal (2005) established the party as a SUNITA NARAIN put India back on the powerful force with a cogent ideology for two Her Centre for Science and The heroine of the anti-big dam movement, global map but the terms in power; now Environment’s advocacy of Medha Patkar shrugged off her coming year could be yearning to see her son CNG in ’s public squeamishness about power politics and challenging as the court Rahul settled in a transport became a global joined the Aam Admi Party, becoming the case examining his role in leadership role model for urban pollution candidate for North East. She lost the coal block allocations control election and has since quit AAP continues

ARUNA ROY S As part of the National SOLO PLAYER Advisory Council (NAC) Roy got the rare chance to re- enter the system she had exited as an officer of the IAS, but this time as a ARVIND KEJRIWAL representative of an NGO. Drove the Right to The obstreperous bureaucrat’s rise to Delhi’s chief ministershipharbinger of becamea new cult the of Information law accountability and a redefinition of Centre- state relations

VINOD RAI As Comptroller & Auditor General from 2008 to 2013, Rai raised questions on the allotment of telecom MAMATA BANERJEE NAVEEN PATNAIK spectrum and coal mines, forcing the government to Her rowdy brand of politics The first Odisha chief minister to switch from allocation of brought down the Left Front in serve three consecutive terms, his natural resources to auctions Bengal after three decades in party has won all other elections power and forced to as well – from to abandon its showcase Nano municipality and panchayat project in Singur elections

BANKING ON LEADERSHIP

K V KAMATH ARUNDHATI He grew ICICI into the BHATTACHARYA Apart from his sterling country's largest private work in HDFC and bank, brought in the The first woman to be HDFC Bank, he has retail banking SBI Chairman, she has played a crucial role revolution and created managed to improve in many crises a whole generation of asset quality at the CHANDA KOCHHAR corporate India faced leaders for India's country’s largest bank – be it the financial sector and has made rapid She took charge of ICICI Bank in 2009 turnaround of UTI or strides in digital and led a remarkable transformation the saving of Satyam banking at India's largest private lender, which faced major setbacks after the 2008 financial crisis 1 > IN RETROSPECT

DEPARTED JYOTI BASU The former petrol pump attendant who founded Reliance and changed the rules of the game in Indian business died in India’s longest serving 2002. A year after his death, his two sons started a long- chief minister, his drawn battle over `ownership issues’ stewardship left Bengal in a state of decline that M S OBEROI his successor struggled unsuccessfully to reverse The Indian hotelier, who died in 2002, put India on the global map of luxury hospitality long before economic liberalisation C P KRISHNAN NAIR The founder of the Leela chain of hotels died in 2014 at age 92. He started the hotel business, named after his wife, when he was 65. The hotel chain, however, is deep in debt ANJI REDDY Former IDPL employee, BRIJMOHAN LALL MUNJAL he was at the forefront The Shiv Sena chief, who died in 2012, gave a of the Indian generics Cycle maker from , he new model of politics – as the state retreated, Shiv Sainiks charge, dabbled partnered Honda to become India’s traded the political support of common citizens in return for unsuccessfully with new largest motorcycle maker. Honda When the father of Operation largesse from the grey zone of power and cronyism drug development and ran the show, Munjal focused on Flood, the world’s largest paid a heavy price for an relationships – with dealers and agricultural development P V NARASIMHA RAO expensive 2007 vendors. Maintained leadership programme, died in 2012, milk- acquisition in Germany. even after Honda exited in 2010 deficient India had become the The man whose contribution to putting India back on its feet world’s largest producer after the financial crisis of 1991 was enormous, died lonely and unsung in 2004, ironically the year the Congress formed a government with another non-Gandhi at its helm

LIVING LEGENDS THE ENTERTAINERS

A M NAIK Larsen & Toubro’s longest serving chairman A R RAHMAN transformed the engineering company into The “Mozart of Asia” won the Oscar for one of India’s largest Slumdog Millionaire conglomerates, but lack of (2009) but the journey to succession planning global recognition proved a big drawback began with Andrew Llyod Webber’s Bombay Dreams (2002)

MUKESH AMBANI The head of India’s largest listed private company set up the world’s largest green-field oil refinery in record time but controversies over an offshore gas-producing joint venture have Three years after his retirement from the Tata dominated the second decade group, which he made a global , the former head of India’s largest corporate group lives a busy life as chairman of two main KUMAR MANGALAM BIRLA Tata trusts, and as an investor in start-ups. In When he took over in 1995 at age 28, the turnover of the Aditya 2015 alone, he invested in 15 start-ups Birla Group was $2 bn. It is at $41 bn now and operates in 36 countries. In 2014, however, The CBI filed a case against him in a coal mine allocation controversy SAMIR JAIN Built Bennett Coleman, which publishes Times of India and Economic Times, into India’s largest media marketing conglomerate M S DHONI G M RAO CHETAN BHAGAT The wicketkeeper from the small town made it big after winning the One of the most aggressive players in public-private partnerships Called the “biggest selling 2007 ICC World Cup Twenty20. Then, in infrastructure, his GMR Group’s entry into airport privatisation in English language novelist in came the 2011 World Cup; and India Delhi and Hyderabad set a high standard, but high debt remains a India’s history”, Bhagat has becoming the no. 1 Test team. He is problem ruled the bestsellerFive Point charts since also Vice-President India Cements his first book, and owner of Indian Super League Someone (2004) Y C DEVESHWAR team Chennaiyin FC ITC’s longest-serving chief executive took charge in 1996, in the throes of a battle with BAT, stabilised the company and drove the tobacco major’s diversification agenda PRATHAP C REDDY With Mohabbatein and Kaun Banega Crorepati in 2000, the Big B staged a comeback like none other, going on to star with He corporatised healthcare with the Apollo chain in 1983. Leonardo diCaprio in The Great Gatsby (2013) and being bestowed His four daughters now jointly run India’s largest network with the in 2015 Once denied a Maruti dealership, he became of hospitals India’s largest telecom operator and expanded into Africa, but couldn’t replicate his success in retail and airport development The ebullient chairman of the managed a peaceful split of his automobile and financial services IRRFAN KHAN empire between his two sons and presides over both with a light touch Till he became Mian Maqbool in the 2003 adaptation of SHIV Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Khan was an unknown actor — but since Made HCL one of India’s most successful IT enterprise then he has starred in some of the companies and transitioned it to a professionally big hits in India and abroad, such managed conglomerate to focus on philanthropic causes as The Namesake (2007), Slumdog in education Millionaire (2009), Life of Pi (2012) and Jurassic World (2015)

N R NARAYANA MURTHY Infosys’ co-founder stepped down as chairman in 2011, After winning the 2000 only to return in 2013 at the Miss World crown, board’s behest as Executive success has kissed Chairman and Additional Piggy Chops, as she is AZIM Director, a position he affectionately called, relinquished in 2014 to with a slew of awards, The chairman raised the bar on corporate become Chairman Emeritus successful songs and by signing “The Giving Pledge”, and now the central role in has given away almost 40% of his stake in Wipro American TV drama to charity Quantico