Anand Mahindra Biography – Indian billionaire businessman & chairman of Mahindra Group

Anand Gopal Mahindra (born 1 May 1955) is an Indian billionaire businessman, and the chairman of Mahindra Group, a Mumbai-based business conglomerate. The group operates in the aerospace, agribusiness, aftermarket, automotive, components, construction equipment, defense, energy, farm equipment, finance and insurance, industrial equipment, information technology, leisure and hospitality, logistics, real estate, and retail. Mahindra is the grandson of Jagdish Chandra Mahindra, co-founder of Mahindra & Mahindra.

As of January 2020, his net worth is estimated to be $1.6 billion. He is an alumnus of Harvard University and Harvard Business School. In 1996, he established Nanhi Kali, a non-government organization that supports education for underprivileged girls in India.

He is included by Fortune Magazine among the ‘World’s 50 Greatest Leaders’. and was in the magazine’s 2011 listing of Asia’s 25 most powerful businesspeople. Anand was noted by Forbes (India) as their ‘Entrepreneur of the Year for 2013. He was given the Padma Bhushan Award, the third highest civilian award in India, in January 2020.

Early life

Anand Mahindra was born on 1 May 1955 in Bombay, India to the late industrialist Harish Mahindra and Indira Mahindra. Anand has two sisters; Anuja Sharma and Radhika Nath. He completed his early schooling at Lawrence School, Lovedale, and then went on to study filmmaking and architecture at Harvard University where he graduated magna cum laude in 1977. In 1981, he completed his MBA from Harvard Business School.

Career

In 1981, Anand joined Mahindra Ugine Steel Company Ltd (MUSCO) as an Executive Assistant to the Finance Director.

In 1989 he was appointed as President and Deputy Managing Director of MUSCO. he initiated the Mahindra Group’s diversification into the new business areas of real estate development and hospitality management.

On 4 April 1991, he took the role of Deputy Managing Director of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., a producer of off-road vehicles and agricultural tractors in India. In April 1997, Anand was appointed as the Managing Director and then in 2001 as the Vice Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.

In August 2012, he took on the role of Chairman of the board and Managing Director of the Mahindra Group from his uncle, Keshub Mahindra.

In November 2016, Anand was re-designated as Executive Chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd and continued to be the Chairman of Mahindra Group.

Anand was a co-promoter of Kotak Mahindra Bank (formally known as Kotak Mahindra Finance Ltd,.) In 2013, he ceased to be a promoter and stayed on as a non-executive director.

Today, the Mahindra Group is a US$19 billion organization, and one of India’s top 10 industrial houses.

Anand Mahindra has been tagged as the face of Indian capitalism by The Economist. Forbes India Magazine has recognized him as their ‘Entrepreneur of the Year for the year 2013.

Beyond Mahindra

In April 2014, Anand became a member of the board of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC). He helps promote the policy advocacy priorities of USIBC and advises members and senior USIBC staff.

In 2011, Anand was invited to join the International Advisory Council of Singapore’s Economic Development Board.

He is the Chairman of the India Advisory Council at the Lincoln Center, New York. In January 2015, he was appointed to a four-year team as a Trustee of the Natural History Museum of London.

An avid advocate of using ‘design for human happiness’, Anand is the chairman of, Governing Council National Institute of Design and President, of the India Design Council.

In 2014, Anand Mahindra with his brother-in-law and sports commentator, Charu Sharma, launched Pro Kabaddi League, a professional-level kabaddi league in India.

Anand, along with Mukesh Ambani and Mahesh Samat, was the co-founder of EPIC, an Indian television channel in 2014 that showcases Hindi content. In 2016, he became the sole owner after both the co-founders sold their stakes to Mahindra.

Anand was featured in Fortune Magazine‘s list of The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders in 2014 and in the list of the top 25 most powerful business people in Asia in 2011. He was the World Economic Forum co-chairman in 2009. He was one of the contributors to the book ‘Reimagining India’ published by Mckinsey & Company. In 2003, he was elected as the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

Other boards and committees

Anand also serves on:

• Harvard Business School – Asia–Pacific Advisory Board
• Harvard University Asia Centre – Advisory Committee
• Harvard Global Advisory Council
• Asia Business Council
• Global Board of Advisers of the Council on Foreign Relations
• World Bank Group’s Advisory Board for Doing Business

Honors and awards

Over the years, Anand has received several recognitions including:

• Rajiv Gandhi Award for outstanding contribution in the business field – 2004
• Knight of the Order of Merit by the President of the French Republic – 2004
• Leadership Award – American India Foundation – 2005
• Business Leader Award for the year award – CNBC Asia – 2006
• Harvard Business School Alumni Achievement Award – 2008
• Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year India award – 2009
• Business India Businessman of the Year award – 2007
• Business Leader of the Year – The Asian Awards – 2011
• Global Leadership Award – US-India Business Council – 2012
• Best Transformational Leader Award – Asian Centre For Corporate Governance & Sustainability – 2012
• Entrepreneur for the Year – Forbes India Leadership Awards – 2013
• Sustainable Development Leadership Award – The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) – 2014
• Business Today CEO of the Year – 2014
• ‘Social Media Person of the Year by the Internet and Mobile Association of India – 2016
• ‘Disruptor Personality of the Year Award’ by Bloomberg TV India – 2016
• Harvard Medal – Harvard Alumni Association – 2014
• Chevalier de l’Ordre national la Légion d’Honneur – French Republic – 2016
• Top 30 CEOs worldwide – Barron’s List – 2016

Personal life (Anand Mahindra Biography)

Anand married Anuradha, who was a journalist and later launched the magazine, Verve. She is currently the editor of magazines Verve and Man’s World. They have two daughters, Divya and Aalika.

Anand has a keen interest in filmmaking, a subject he pursued as an undergraduate at Harvard. He is a keen photographer with a strong interest in films. He also enjoys listening to the blues and has set up Mahindra Blues Festival held annually in Mumbai since 2011.

Anand promotes arts & culture and has set up an awards platform named Mahindra Excellence in Theater Awards and the Mahindra Sanatkada Lucknow Festival, a crafts exhibition and performing arts event held annually in Lucknow.

Charity

Anand is an advocate of the study of humanities as he believes it can help address various problems in the world that arise due to interdependency. He donated $10 million to support the Harvard Humanities Center. In recognition of this donation, the center was renamed Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard.

He is the founder of Project Nanhi Kali which aims to provide primary education to underprivileged girls in India. As of September 2017, the project has supported 130,000 underprivileged girls.

Anand is also the chairman-for-life and one of the board of directors of Naandi Foundation, an Indian charitable trust that works towards the socio-economic development of India.

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