10 Indian CEOs ruling the world

10 INDIAN CEOS RULING THE WORLD

Recently, when Sundar Pichai took over the reins of Google as the CEO, India’s position on the global map strengthened. People are now taking us seriously and giving us the long due credit that Indians are indeed brainy and can quite literally, rule the world. The IITs, IIITs, B-Schools and management schools and other universities in India are churning out a good number of managing directors, CEOs, finance officers and other top strata members. But the list doesn’t begin or end with Sundar Pichai. Take a look at how many Indian CEOs are ruling roost in the United States and other global countries.

Indra Nooyi, CEO – PepsiCo – Born in Tamilnadu, with a post graduate diploma in management from the IIM-Calcutta, Indra Nooyi’s journey so far is quite phenomenal. Ranked 2 in the Fortune list of the most powerful women in business of 2015, Indra Nooyi joined PepsiCo in 1994 as the President and CFO. She played a key role in establishing the brand worldwide and boosting the company’s net profit from $2.7 billion to $6.8 billion. She has also been instrumental in making PepsioCo’s products healthier and chemical-free.

Satya Nadella, CEO – Microsoft – Hailing from a Telugu speaking family in Andhra Pradesh, Satya Nadella graduated from the Manipal Institute of Technology with a degree in electrical engineering. After holding many a key positions at the company, he took over as the CEO in 2014 and is known for developing the world’s largest cloud infrastructures at Microsoft. If news is to be believed, Satya will be featured in high school text books in Andhra and Telangana, to serve as an inspiration for students.

Sundar Pichai, CEO – Google – This young CEO was a sensation in the recent past after he made it to Google’s topmost management. With a degree in Metallurgical Engineering from IIT, Kharagpur, Sundar Pichai made heads turn when he was named as Google’s new CEO in 2015. After joining Google in 2004, he mainly worked the toolbar and went on to develop the internet browser, Chrome. Then on, he led product management and played the key role in designing Google’s apps and Google drive.

Shantanu Narayen, CEO – Adobe Systems – Before being named as the CEO of Adobe in 2007, Shantanu has quite a few little-known laurels up his sleeve. He joined Apple, moved to Silicon Graphics, then co-founded Pictra Inc and finally settled down at Adobe as the President and COO. With a degree in electrical engineering from Osmania University in Hyderabad, Shantanu was instrumental in designing some of the core products at Adobe. In 2011, US President Barack Obama appointed him as one of the members of his management advisory board.

Rajeev Suri, CEO – Nokia – Another alumnus of the Manipal Institute of Technology, Rajeev Suri serves as the CEO of Nokia. Born in Delhi and raised in Kuwait, he studied Electronics and Communication Engineering at MIT and initially worked for Calcom Electronics and ICL before joining Nokia. With no management degree in hand, after taking over as the CEO in 2014, he led the company cut down employee costs, trim other expenditure and concentrate mainly on product expansion and broadband technology.

Ajay Singh Banga, CEO – MasterCard – Born into a Sikh family at Pune, Ajay Banga is an MBA graduate from IIM, Ahmedabad. Previously MasterCard’s president and COO, Ajay Banga was named the CEO in 2010. Apart from holding just this position he is also the chairman of US-India Business Council, member of the Council of Foreign relations, member of the US President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations and also a member of MasterCard’s Board of Directors. Ajay Banga was awarded the Padma Sri in 2016 by the Government of India.

Sanjay Jha, CEO – GlobalFoundries – Born and brought up in Bihar, Sanjay Jha is now the CEO of GlobalFoundries. Prior to this, he was serving as the chairman and CEO of Motorola Mobility and also as the COO of Qualcomm. GlobalFoundries is the world’s second largest semiconductor foundry business and is headquartered at Santa Clara, US. Apart from serving as the CEO of the company, Sanjay is also one of the board of directors of the Semiconductor Industry Association and also the vice-chairman of the Fabless Semiconductor Association.

Nikesh Arora, CEO – SoftBank Corp – A former google executive, Nikesh Arora is a graduate in Electrical Engineering from the Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi. Before joining SoftBank Corp as the CEO, Nikesh served in top positions in companies like Colgate-Palmolive, Putnam Investments, Deutsche Telekom and Fidelity Investments. More than he being named as the CEO, what made news was his pay package. Nikesh was paid a whopping $135 million to lead SoftBank and that makes him the world’s 3^rd highest paid executive.

Padmasree Warrior, CEO – NextEV – Silicon Valley’s most sought-after female executive, Padmasree Warrior is now the CEO of NextEV, a China based electric car company. Previously, Padmasree was serving as the CTO for Motorola and Cisco. Born and raised in Vijayawada, with a degree in chemical engineering from IIT, Delhi, she also serves on the boards of advisory council of IIT, Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago Mayor’s Technology Council and Chicago’s Joffrey Ballet. She was named the 71^st most powerful woman by Forbes in 2014.

Ivan Menezes, CEO – Diageo – Born and brought up in Pune, Ivan Menezes is the CEO of Diageo, a multinational alcoholic beverages company that owns brands like Smirnoff Vodka, Johnnie Walker whisky, Captain Morgan rum and Guinness. He was educated at St Stephen’s College in Delhi and IIM – Ahmedabad. Ivan’s brother, Victor Menezes was the former chairman and CEO of Citibank.