Ajay Banga

Ajaypal Singh Banga (born November 1959) is an Indian-American business executive.[2] He is currently executive chairman of Mastercard, having previously served as president and CEO of the company from July 2010 until December 31, 2020.[3][4] Mastercard announced in April 2010 that Banga, previously its president and chief operating officer, would become president and chief executive officer, effective July 1, 2010, and a member of the board of directors, effective immediately.[5]

Ajay Banga
ਅਜੈਪਾਲ ਸਿੰਘ ਬੰਗਾ
Pranab Mukherjee (right) presenting the Padma Shri Award to Banga (2016)
BornNovember 1959 (1959-11) (age 61)
Pune, India
CitizenshipUnited States [1]
EducationUniversity of Delhi (BA)
Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (MBA)
OccupationExecutive Chairman, Mastercard.
PredecessorRobert Selander (as CEO)

Banga succeeded Robert W. Selander, who had been CEO since March 1997.[4]

In February 2015, President Barack Obama appointed Banga to serve as a member of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.[6]

Banga is the former chairman of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) representing more than 300 of the largest international companies investing in India, and chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce.[7] He is also a member of the board of directors of the Dow Chemical Company; member of the Council on Foreign Relations; and member of International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.[8]

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016.[9]

Early life

Banga was born in 1960 into a Sikh family in Khadki, Pune, Maharashtra, India where his father, an army officer, was posted.[10] His family is originally from Jalandhar, Punjab. His father, Harbhajan Singh Banga is a retired lieutenant-general who served in the Indian Army. He is the younger brother of businessman M. S. Banga.[11]

Banga grew up and attended schools across India, successively in Secunderabad, Jalandhar, Delhi, Ahmedabad, before finishing his schooling in Shimla.[12]

Education

His primary education was completed at the Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet. Banga went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University followed by PGP in Management (equivalent to MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.[4][5][13]

Career

Beginning his business career with Nestlé in 1981, Banga spent the next 13 years working in jobs spanning sales, marketing, and general management. He later joined PepsiCo and was involved in the launch of its international fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalized.[14]

Banga was vice chairman of the board of trustees of the New York Hall of Science and a board member of the National Urban League. He was formerly a business sponsor of Citi's African heritage network – NYC.

Banga has a keen interest in social development issues, and over the period from 2005 to mid-2009, he spearheaded Citi's strategy in the microfinance sector across the world.[4]

Banga is a regular speaker at various FinTech conferences and various leadership conferences. He also appeared on the Mad Money show hosted by Jim Cramer on Thursday, 6 Nov 2014[15]

Banga, was the keynote speaker at the NYU Stern 2014 Graduate Convocation on May 22, 2014, where he spoke about the importance of diversity in driving innovation and leadership.[16] He also was a keynote speaker for his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, during the Class of 2015's convocation.[17][18]

In 2020 he was elected chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce succeeding Paul Polman. He previously served as ICC’s First Vice-Chair since June 2018.

See also

References
  1. "Naming a New Chief, MasterCard Signals It Is Open to Changes". Retrieved 2020-09-30.
  2. "MasterCard CEO discusses diversity, technology, unpredictable world and personal incidents".
  3. Reshmanth (April 6, 2015). "These CEOs of Indian Origin will make you feel proud". South Report. Retrieved May 22, 2017.
  4. "About Mastercard - Smart & Secure Payment Solutions". www.mastercard.com.
  5. "Bloomberg - Executive Profile". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2019-06-16.
  6. "President Obama Announces More Key Administration Posts". 5 February 2015.
  7. "ICC elects Mastercard CEO Ajay Banga as new Chair". International Chamber of Commerce. 23 June 2020.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2015-02-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Padma Awards 2016". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 2016. Retrieved February 2, 2016.
  10. Parker, Garrett (2019-03-01). "10 Things You Didn't Know about Mastercard CEO Ajaypal Singh Banga". Money Inc. Retrieved 2020-12-21.
  11. Karmali, Naazneen. "India's Banga Brothers". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  12. "Delhi whiz Ajay Banga becomes MasterCard CEO - Times of India".
  13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2012-06-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  14. "Ajaypal Banga". Forbes. Retrieved 2020-04-09.
  15. Allen, Karma (6 November 2014). "Cramer, MasterCard CEO talk radical banking moves".
  16. "Press Release - Ajay Banga, President & CEO of MasterCard, to Keynote 2014 Graduate Convocation - NYU Stern". www.stern.nyu.edu.
  17. "MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga's six lessons on leadership—as told to the IIM-A class of 2015 — Quartz". qz.com.
  18. Ajay Banga. "A Leader Listens". Penguin Random House India. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
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