If you thought all of India’s business leaders were born with a silver spoon in their mouth, you are wrong. Even those who were heirs to established business empire, made it a point to equip themselves academically to tackle the challenges posed by the winds of change and uncertain future.
Ratan Tata completed his B.S. in architecture with structural engineering from Cornell University in 1962, and the Advanced Management Program from Harvard Business School in 1975.
Mukesh Ambani completed his graduation with a bachelor`s degree in chemical engineering from the UDCT, now Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. He later enrolled for an MBA from Stanford University but completed only one year of the two year programme, to help out his legendary father in business.
Anil Dhirubani Ambani group head Anil Ambani completed his Bachelors degree from University of Bombay (as it was known then), followed by Master of Business Administration degree from University of Pennsylvania Wharton School.
Anand Mahindra is the Chairman and Managing Director of one of India’s largest enterprise, Mahindra & Mahindra. He graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1977 (he studied filmmaking at Harvard), and completed his MBA from Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts in 1981.
Telecom tycoon Sunil Bharti Mittal is the founder, chairman and Group CEO of Bharti Enterprises. He started his career at 18 after graduating from Panjab University in 1976 and founded Bharti. He is also an alumnus of Harvard Business School, USA.
Azim H Premji, Chairman, Wipro holds an electrical engineering degree from Stanford University, USA.
Media Baron Kaladnidhi Maran has an MBA from the University of Scranton, US.
Raghav Bahl is the Controlling Shareholder and Managing Director of Network 18. An Economics graduate from St. Stephens College, he has done his MBA from the University of Delhi.
Pawan Munjal, the Managing Director and CEO of Hero MotoCorp Ltd is a graduate in Mechanical Engineering.
Deepak Parekh is the Chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation. A Chartered Accountant, Parekh began his career with Ernst & Young Management Consultancy Services in New York. After returning to India, he worked with Grindlays Bank and also Chase Manhattan Bank as its assistant representative for South Asia. Parekh joined HDFC in 1978.
UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya studied at St. Xavier's College, Kolkata, and graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce degree. While in college, he was interning in his family businesses. After he graduated, he also interned at the American part of Hoechst in the United States.
Narayanaswami Srinivasan is the Managing-Director of the India Cements Limited. He holds a B.Sc. (Tech) from Madras University, a M.Sc. from the University of Chicago and completed his post-graduation in Chemical Engineering from the Illinois Institute of Technology.
N. R. Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus of Infosys earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Mysore in 1967 and a master’s degree in technology from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, in 1969.
Naina Lal Kidwai is the Group General Manager and Country Head of HSBC India.She is a chartered accountant by profession, later earned a Bachelors degree in Economics from University of Delhi and an MBA from Harvard Business School. She was the first Indian woman to graduate from Harvard Business School.
Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. A chartered accountant by qualification, he also has an MBA from the London Business School.
Chanda Kochhar is currently the Managing Director (MD) of ICICI Bank and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). After graduating, she pursued Cost Accountancy ICWAI and also acquired the Masters Degree in Management Studies from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies, Mumbai.
Dr. Preetha Reddy is the Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited. Dr. Preetha Reddy holds a B.Sc from Stella Maris College Chennai, and a Masters in Public Administration from Madras University.
Rahul Bhatia, Group Managing Director and Director, InterGlobe Enterprises Limited (IndiGo airlines) holds a degree in electrical engineering from University of Waterloo, Canada.
Sajjan Jindal, Chairman, Managing Director of JSW Steel, holds B.E in Mechanical Engineering from M S Ramaiah Institute of Technology which was then under Bangalore University.
Malvinder Mohan Singh is the former Chairman and CEO of Ranbaxy Laboratories. He received his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.Brother Shivinder Mohan Singh holds an Honours Graduate in Mathematics. He also received his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.
Sulajja Firodia Motwani, an MBA from Carnegie Mellon University, USA, Sulajja started her career at BARRA international, a leading investment analytic firm in California. She worked there for four years before joining Kinetic. She is now the Joint Managing Director of Kinetic Engineering Ltd and Director, Kinetic Motors
Uday Kotak, is the Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Group. He is an alumnus of Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.
Vinita Bali is presently the Managing Director of Britannia Industries Limited. She received her Bachelor's Degree in Economics from LSR at the University of Delhi and her MBA at the Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies at Bombay University. She pursued postgraduate studies in Business and Economics at Michigan State University.