Sudhir Choudhrie

Sudhir Choudhrie is an Indian-born entrepreneur who has played an active role in international commerce, diplomacy, philanthropy and politics. In 2013, Theresa May awarded him the "Asian Business Lifetime Achievement Year Award 2013".^[1]

Early life and family

Sudhir Choudhrie was raised in Delhi by his mother after his father’s early death.^[2] Choudhrie has described his mother as his “role model” in life.^[3]

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Delhi.^[4]

Choudhrie is married to Anita and has two children, Bhanu and Dhairya. The family live in London.^[5]

In 1999 Choudhrie undertook a heart transplant operation. He has since described surviving it as his “greatest achievement”.^[6]

Career

After completing his education, Choudhrie chose not to join his grandfather’s Delhi real estate business and instead began his own business career buying TV equipment from the UK to sell on to the Indian government to develop the country's growing television network in the 1960s and 70s. His business developed as an exporter of consumer goods including farm machinery, initially particularly focused on the Soviet Union, then India’s largest trading partner.^[7]

Choudhrie founded the Magnum International Trading Company Ltd in 1975, where he focused on the exploration of export markets.^[8]

Choudhrie has served as Vice Chairman of Alpha G:Corp Development Pvt Ltd. He also sat on the Board of Directors of Deccan Aviation Ltd (2007-8), Kingfisher Airlines Ltd (2008-).^[9]

Choudhrie was a Non-Executive Director of Ebookers PLC from 1999 to 2005. During this time he served as Chairman of Compensation Committee, Member of Compensation Committee, Member of Nominating Committee and Member of Audit Committee of Ebookers PLC.^[10]

From 1993 to 2004 Choudhrie served as the Republic of Latvia's Honorary Consul General to India.^[11]

Politics

Sudhir Choudhrie is a long term backer of the UK Liberal Democrats and has supported the party financially since 2004, making over £1.5million in donations (personal and company).^[12][13]

In 2015 Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron appointed Choudhrie as his Adviser on India, a role involving helping the party develop its relationship with the British-Indian community and providing advice on Britain’s foreign and business relationships with India.^[14]

Arts

Sudhir Choudhrie is passionate about restoring vintage cars and currently holds one of the finest private collections in India.^[15]

Choudhrie and his wife Anita have been a longstanding champions of Indian art, particularly M. F. Husain (“the Picasso of India”).^[16] Together they founded the Stellar International Art Foundation in 2008, which has collected over 600 pieces, including many by Husain. The Foundation held a major exhibit of Husain’s art in London in 2015.^[17] Choudhrie is known to also own works by Damian Hirst, Andy Warhol and Anish Kapoor.^[18]

Philanthropy

Sudhir Choudhrie is a prolific philanthropist supporting a wide range of institutions and causes.

Choudhrie has been a longstanding benefactor of Green Templeton College at the University of Oxford, where a Library has been named in his honour. Choudhrie holds an (honorary) Radcliffe fellowship at the college and has supported the annual GTC Emerging Markets Symposium since it began in 2007.^[19]

Choudhrie is a benefactor of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York, where a professorship in Cardiology has been established in his name.^[20]

The Choudhrie family support several charities. Their UK based Path to Success charity works to promote educational opportunities and provide assistance for disabled people, and to help the homeless.^[21] Led by Choudhrie’s wife Anita, the charity ran a high profile campaign to fund sixty wheelchairs for sixty UK NHS hospitals in 2013.^[22] It also supports the Amar Jyoti Trust in India providing educational, sporting and cultural activities for disabled and able bodied children.^[23]

Controversy

In February 2014, Choudhrie was detained by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) in a bribery investigation into Rolls-Royce Holdings. He denied any wrongdoing, was never charged and was released on bail without conditions.^[24] The Sunday Times reported that the bail was completely lifted in July 2014. It also indicated that Choudhrie was unlikely to be a part of the inquiry any further.^[25][26][27] The Sunday Times also cited a spokesperson for Choudhrie reiterating his denial of any wrongdoing ^[28] and that he has co-operated fully with the authorities.^[29][30][31]

In 2013 the Daily Telegraph alleged that Choudhrie had been denied a peerage because of concerns about the treatment of patients by the Alpha Hospital Group. The company responded by saying "Sudhir Choudhrie does not run or manage Alpha Healthcare or Alpha Hospitals. He retired from being a director of both companies in 2007".^[32] In July 2014 the Guardian published a correction to a similar story, accepting that there was no evidence to suggest that his peerage was blocked because concerns about Alpha.^[33]

References