Top 10 Indian CEOs with an MBA Degree
It might be true in some cases. Everyone is not born with a business mind. Many people who have achieved great success without an MBA have worked exceptionally hard or have been supported by someone with business knowledge to help them succeed.
MBA programs help young minds develop their business acumen and expand their knowledge of markets. The majority of them are not interested in acquiring essential business skills or building their confidence.
This blog shares stories of those who got the opportunity and achieved success because of an MBA, despite the fact that there are many exceptions to that. Bonus tips included!
Also Read : Top 10 MBA Colleges in India & Top 100 MBA Colleges in India
From Sundar Pichai to Ratan Tata. Here are the top CEOs with MBA degrees.
1. Sundar Pichai, CEO – Alphabet
Sunder Pichai’s career began at McKinsey & Company, where he worked in engineering and product management. In 2016, he was appointed as the CEO of Google, and in the next 4 years, he became the CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
Born in Tamil Nadu, India, he studied material sciences and engineering at Stanford and holds an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania after completing his graduation.
2. Satya Nadella, CEO – Microsoft
Satya Nadella is Microsoft’s CEO at the moment. Prior to this, he served as Microsoft’s Executive Vice President for Cloud and Enterprise.
Nadella moved to the USA in 1990 to study computer science after earning his Bachelor’s. In 1997, he graduated from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business with an MBA. In order to pursue his MBA dream, he traveled to Chicago every weekend for two years.
As a young engineer, Nadella joined Microsoft in 1992. As Microsoft bCentral Vice President in 2000, Nadella developed a set of web services for small businesses, including email and hosting for websites. He was credited with bringing Microsoft’s database, Windows Server, and Developer tools to Azure cloud.
He has always believed an MBA has helped him navigate complex business challenges because of his clarity of vision and a keen ear.
3. Leena Nair (Channel Group CEO, 2021-Present )
Leena Nair is the CEO of Chanel group.She is listed as one of Fortune India’s Most Powerful Women in 2021. She was named the Global Indian of the year in the Prime Women Leadership Awards by Economic Times in 2020. Additionally, the prestigious Great British Businesswoman Awards 2021 named Leena Nair the Role model of the year. She served as Unilever’s chief human resource officer prior to joining the Chanel organization. Leena Nair earned her MBA from XLRI, where she also won the gold medal. She earned her degree in Telecommunication and Electronics Engineering.
4. Parag Agrawal – CEO, Twitter
The most recent Twitter CEO attended Stanford University to pursue a Ph.D. in computer science after receiving his BTech from IIT-Bombay. In 2001, Parag graduated from the Atomic Energy Central School.
5. Anshu Jain, President of Cantor Fitzgerald
In 1983, Jain graduated from the Shri Ram College of Commerce at the University of Delhi with a BA in economics. He then earned his MBA degree in finance from the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Isenberg School of Management in 1985.
6. Shantanu Narayen ( Adobe CEO, 2007-Present)
Shantanu Narayen took over as CEO of Adobe in 2007 and completely changed the course of the business. Adobe has become the first company to ever make the Fortune 400 list after surpassing the market valuation of $100 billion.
Forbs ranked Adobe as the 13th most innovative company in 2018. Additionally, Shantanu served on the Management Advisory Board, which was established by former US President Barack Obama. He also holds the distinction of having received the Padma Shri, one of the highest honors. 1993 saw Shantanu Narayen graduate with an MBA from the Haas School of Business. He was a senior manager at Apple before starting his job at Adobe.
7. Ratan Tata, Former Chairman – Tata Sons
Ratan Tata is well-known throughout the nation and beyond the horizons for his business endeavors and all the high seas he has navigated.
He is the former chairman of Tata Sons and an Indian industrialist, philanthropist, investor and great-grandson of Jamsetji Tata. He completed his high school education at Riverdale Country School in New York City and graduated with a degree in architecture from Cornell University.
Ratan Tata participated in the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School, which lasted seven weeks.
8. Ajaypal Singh Banga-CEO, Mastercard
Ajaypal Singh Banga obtained both a PGP in Management (equivalent to an MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad and a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) degree in Economics from Delhi University’s St. Stephen’s College.
9. Anand Mahindra
Anand Mahindra is the chairman of the 21 billion Mahindra and Mahindra conglomerate and a third-generation descendant of the Mahindra family. He is responsible for the Mahindra Group’s expansion into new industries such as hospitality and real estate. The Mahindra Group now operates in 20 different industries, from the automotive to the IT sectors. But before going to Harvard for an MBA, he first studied film and architecture.
Anand Mahindra is listed in Fortune Magazine’s list of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” and was one of the 25 most influential businesspeople in Asia in 2011. In January 2020, Anand Mahindra received the Padma Bhushan Award, India’s third-highest civilian honor, in recognition of his contributions to business and society.
10. Jayshree Ullal-CEO, Arista Networks
Ullal earned a bachelor’s degree in engineering from San Francisco State University (electrical). She continued her studies at Santa Clara University, where she graduated with a Master’s in Engineering management.
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