M. S. Banga

Manvinder Singh Banga (or Vindi Banga) is a senior partner at the private equity fund Clayton Dubilier & Rice. He was born on 31 October 1954 in Simla (then in the state of Punjab), to Jaswant and Lt Gen Harbhajan Singh Banga who was a decorated General in the Indian Army. Vindi is an advisor to the Karta Initiative,^[1] a non profit organisation seeking to widen access to world class higher education for outstanding low income talent from developing countries.

He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi in 1975 and did BTech degree in Mechanical Engineering. His colloquial name 'Vindi' comes from Vindhyachal Hostel in this institute. From Delhi he moved to Ahmedabad to study at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM-A), where he met his future wife, Kamini.

In May 2000, Vindi was elected chairman and CEO of one of India's largest and most respected companies, Hindustan Lever Ltd. At the time, he was the youngest CEO to ever have been appointed. In February 2005, as part of a major reorganization of Unilever's upper management, Banga was elevated to the Unilever Executive, as the global head of the Foods division.^[2] In 2008, he was given additional responsibility for the Home and Personal Care Division, assuming the title of President, Foods and Home & Personal Care — effectively running all the categories across the globe. He is currently a Non-Executive Director on the Boards of Glaxo Smith Kline Plc, Thomson Reuters, Marks & Spencers PLC, and is on the Prime Minister of India's Council for Trade & Industry,^[3] and was awarded the Padma Bhushan - one of India's highest civilian honours — by the President of India in 2010.^[4]

Personal life

Ajay Banga (Ajaypal Singh Banga) is his brother and is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of MasterCard.^[5] Tavraj Banga is his son and a senior executive at the buy-out firm Terra Firma.^[6]

References