MR. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman Of the

Aditya Birla Group

IntroductionBorn on 14th June, 1967 at Jeddah, Saudi

Arabia into a Marwari business Birla family from state of Rajasthan.

He spent his early life in Calcutta and Mumbai.

A chartered accountant.(1988) Kumar Mangalam Birla earned an MBA from

the London Business School, where he is also an Honorary Fellow. (1992)

Mr. Birla and his wife, Mrs. Neerja Birla, have three children, Ananyashree, Aryaman Vikram and Advaitesha.

Kumar Mangalam Birla took over as Chairman in 1995, at the age of 28, after sudden demise of his father.

Today, Kumar Mangalam Birla is among the Top 10 Richest persons of India (7th Richest person of India) with Net Worth of US $ 10 Billions and above and the 8th Youngest Billionaire of the World according to Forbes magazine.

The GroupBirla Group has a yearly Revenue of more than

US $ 24 Billions. 1,00,000 + people are working for this Group. The main Business Industry of Birla group is

Metals, Cement, Textile, Fertilizers and many others…..

 The Aditya Birla Group comprises of 16 companies and joint ventures in India and 22 international companies, mostly in South-east Asia.

 

Taking India to the world!!The major Companies of Birla Group are,  Grasim Hindalco Ultra-Tech Cement Aditya Birla Nuvo Idea Cellular Aditya Birla RetailIts Joint Ventures include Birla Sun Life

(Financial Services) and Birla NGK (Insulators).

His Challenges After sudden demise of his father, noted

industrialist Aditya Birla, after whom the group is named, when Kumar Mangalam Birla assumed the mantle at the Aditya Birla Group,

Doubts were raised about his ability to handle a giant business house.

With interests spanning viscose, textiles and garments on the one hand and cement, aluminium and fertilisers on the other.

But Kumar Mangalam proved his skeptics wrong.

He brought in radical changes, changed business strategies, professionalised the entire group and replaced internal systems.

Mr. Kumar Mangalam reduced his group's dependence on the cyclic commodities sectors by entering consumer products.

Under Kumar Mangalam Birla's leadership, the Aditya Birla Group, apart from consolidating its position in existing businesses, also ventured into sunrise sectors like cellular telephony, asset management, software and BPO.

When Kumar Mangalam Birla had joined Aditya Birla Group, In the Birla Group, there was womb-to-tomb policy. People rarely retired. And it was assumed that their children guaranteed jobs with the group.

He changed all that for the benefit of the Company. According to him, he felt that if people never retired, then there was no place for younger people to rise. So it was important to institute a retirement policy.

When Mr. Aditya Birla, Mr. Kumar’s father died in 1995, the group was already worth Rs.8,000 Crores.

If Mr. Kumar had been content to manage the business that his father left him and had not bothered with acquisitions or new projects, he would probably be sitting on a group that was worth around Rs.12,000 Crores today merely on the basis of normal growth.

And even at that level, he would be still country’s leading business men.

His Success Story

But he struggled for 2 to 3 years to come up and prove himself and settled his business.

Thus, because of his determination by facing all the adverse situations today after 15 years he has transformed his father’s empire to Rs.34,000 Crores by his Knowledge, Passion, Entrepreneurship, Interest & Leadership.

His AchievementsMr. Birla was the first and only industrialist to

have been appointed as a public nominee on the Governing Board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by the Finance Ministry in the year 1998.

He served as the Chairman of SEBI's 17-Member Committee on Corporate Governance constituted in mid-1999, and as Chairman of SEBI's Committee on Insider Trading.

The Bombay Management Association honoured Mr. Birla as "The Management Man of the Year 1999-2000" .

The Rajiv Gandhi Award for "Business Excellence and his contribution to the country" by the Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress in the year 2000.

Ranked among the first five Asian business leaders for the CNBC/INSEAD sponsored "Asian Business Leader Award 2002“.

 

Named "The Business Leader of the Year" by The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence 2002-2003.

Close on the heels of the Economic Times' "The Business Leader of the Year" Award, he was selected Business India's "Business Man of the Year — 2003". This is indeed historic, as no Chairman / CEO has ever won both these prestigious awards in a single year.

The Indo-American Society's "Young Achiever Award" .

Awarded "The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year —- India" in the year 2005.

Named "Young Super Performer in the CEO Category" by Business Today – 2005.

Represented India at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Award in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June 2006, where he was inducted as a Member of the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Academy.

The media too have showered accolades on Mr.Kumar Mangalam Birla.

Between 1997 to-date, the NDTV, Star Plus "India Business Week" designated him as "The Businessman of the Year".

Global Finance has cited him among the 10 Super Stars of Corporate Finance.

Business World ranked him among the top 10 of India's most admired and respected CEOs and the top CEO of the coming millennium.

Hindustan Times named him as "The Businessman of the Year" as well.

Present StatusMr. Birla is also on the Board of the G.D.Birla

Medical Research & Education Foundation, and a Member of the Board of Governors of the Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS), Pilani.

He is a Member of the London Business School's Asia Pacific Advisory Board, which provides counsel on the School's strategy and curriculum.

Mr. Birla has held and continues to hold several key and responsible positions on various regulatory and professional Boards, such as:

Director of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India from 27 June 2006.

Chairman of the Advisory Committee constituted by the Ministry of Company Affairs for 2006 and 2007.

Member of The Prime Minister of India's Advisory Council on Trade and Industry

Chairman of the Board of Trade reconstituted by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry.

Chairman of the National Safety Council. Member of The National Council of the

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). Member of the Apex Advisory Council of The

Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India.

On The Advisory Council for the Centre for Corporate Governance.

Member of the Organising Committee for Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010.

His Ideologies and CharacteristicsAn Introvert PersonalityStraightforwardA Good LeaderPatienceWalks on his values and principlesGrowth OrientedCreativeWorks for societyDetermined

Therefore he is one the most respected person in the Industry due to his values and principles.

“He speaks by his work and not by his words.”

Thank You……