G. V. Prasad is an Indian business executive, and CEO of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories. Prasad studied Chemical Engineering at the Alagappa College of Technology. After completing five semesters, he went on to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago to complete the three remaining semesters. Prasad followed up the engineering degree with a one-year MBA at Purdue University. He won the 'Outstanding Senior Student' Award from the American Institute of Chemists, Chicago chapter in 1982. He earned his Masters in Industrial Administration from Purdue University a year later.
His first exposure to the world of pharmaceuticals was in 1985 with Benzex Labs, a pharmaceutical enterprise that he co-founded. Benzex was later acquired by Dr. Reddys and Prasad returned to the construction business, only to come back to pharmaceuticals in 1990 – this time as the CEO and MD of Cheminor Drugs Ltd. In 2001, Cheminor Drugs merged with Dr.Reddy's Laboratories and Prasad took over as the vice-chairman and CEO of the merged entity.
Early career:
After completing his Masters, Prasad returned to India and joined his father's construction business, immersing himself in various projects in Karnataka. In 1985, he co-founded Benzex Labs, an API manufacturing company, which was later acquired by Dr Reddy's. He briefly returned to the construction business before reappearing on the pharma landscape in 1990 as managing director of Cheminor Drugs Ltd. Fueled by a spirit of entrepreneurship, Prasad transformed Cheminor into a world class API and Generics manufacturer, largely through his focus on professionalism, good governance and transparency.
In 2001, Cheminor Drugs merged with Dr.Reddy's Laboratories and Prasad took over as the vice-chairman and CEO of the merged entity. Prasad is widely credited as the architect of Dr. Reddy's successful global generics strategy. He envisioned newer business platforms like the Custom Pharmaceutical business and Specialty pharmaceuticals and is dedicated to building the innovation side of the business.
Professional affiliations:
AP State Committee, WWF-India
Member of the Advisory Board, Acumen Fund
Member of the Board, Infotech Enterprises Ltd.
Member of the Board, Diana Hotels, India
Member of the Board, Ocimum Bio Solutions
Member, American Chemical Society
Member, American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Served as Chairman of the CII National Committee on Environment and the Intellectual Property Committee (2006–2007)
Gary C. Kelly is the chief executive officer and chairman of Southwest Airlines. He first joined the company in 1986 as Controller. In 1989, Kelly was promoted to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance. In 2001, he was promoted to Executive Vice President. Kelly spent 3 years in this role until he was promoted to his current position as CEO and vice chairman in 2004 replacing James Parker who succeeded Herb Kelleher in 2001. He received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting from The University of Texas at Austin and is a Certified Public Accountant.
Kelly was named Chairman of the Board of Directors of Southwest Airlines on May 21, 2008, replacing co-founder Herb Kelleher. Gary Kelly also became president of Southwest Airlines the same year, replacing Colleen Barrett when her contract expired on July 15, 2008.
Kelly was named one of the best CEOs in America for 2008, 2009 and 2010 by Institutional Investor magazine and serves on the President's Council of Jobs and Competitiveness.
Gary Rodkin is the past CEO and President of ConAgra Foods, one of the largest food processing companies in North America. Rodkin was formerly the CEO and president of the North America division of PepsiCo from 1995 to 2005, and still is a special consultant through his exit agreement with the company. He helped PepsiCo grow in the purchasing of Quaker Oats. He also was vice president of marketing at General Mills for many years before he left for PepsiCo. Rodkin got his bachelor's in economics from Rutgers University and his M.B.A. from Harvard School of Business.
On August 12, 2014, Rodkin announced that he would be retiring as CEO in 2015.
Compensation:
While CEO of ConAgra Foods in 2009, Gary M. Rodkin earned a total compensation of $5,858,677, which included a base salary of $1,019,231, a cash bonus of $1,100,000, stocks granted of $2,126,000, options granted of $1,425,850, and other compensation totaling $187,596.
Gautam Adani (born 24 June 1962) is an Indian business tycoon who is the chairman and founder of Adani Group. According to Forbes, his personal wealth is estimated to be $7.1 billion as of September 2014. He founded The Adani Group in 1988 and today it is a globally integrated infrastructure player with businesses spanning coal trading, coal mining, oil & gas exploration, ports, multi-modal logistics, power generation, Agri Infrastructure, edible oil & transmission and gas distribution. With business experience of more than 33 years, Gautam Adani is an Indian entrepreneur who has led the Adani group from a modest background to create a $10.4 billion professionally managed empire in a relatively short period of time. He is a first generation entrepreneur. The Adani Group's business strategy has revolved heavily around excessive leverage and political patronage. As of 2015, they are one of India's most indebted business groups.
He has also been recognized for establishing the modern Mundra port which was selected as the best port in 2006 by Lloyds. Mundra Port is now India's largest commercial port to have achieved a new landmark of handling 100 million metric tonnes in FY 13-14.
Career:
Instead of joining his father’s textile unit in Ahmedabad, Gautam Adani moved to Mumbai at a young age of 18 with only a few hundred rupees. He started his career working as a diamond sorter at Mahindra Brothers for 2 years and then went on to set up his own diamond brokerage business in Mumbai, India. He has claimed that he made his first million within a year, at the age of 20, a big amount during the 1980s.
Mahasukh Adani, Gautam’s elder brother and an entrepreneur, called Gautam back to Ahmedabad to run his newly purchased plastic factory.
Soon, Gautam began commodity trading by importing Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), a key raw material for manufacturing plastic.
Gautam Adani, referred to as 'Gautambhai', is known for his risk appetite. Former IIM-A director Bakul Dholakia, who is associated with the Adani group's educational and CSR initiatives said, "In terms of the risk taking appetite and risk absorption capacity there are very few who can match Gautam Adani. There are many who take large risks, but very few have the ability to face their adversity with courage and conviction".
Adani Group:
In 1988, he established Adani Exports Limited (now known as the Adani Enterprises Ltd), the flagship company of the Adani Group, that traded in a variety of power and agricultural commodities. The economic liberalization in 1991 fuelled the rapid growth of the business and the huge profitability of Adani Exports provided further capital for Gautam Adani to expand his business.
In 1993, the Government of Gujarat invited private companies to run the Mundra Port and in 1995 the contract was given to Adani Group. Today, Mundra Port is the largest Private Sector port in India, with capability of handling close to 80 million tonnes of cargo per annum.
Gautam Adani is also the founder and promoter of Adani Power Ltd (APL), a power business arm of Adani Group. Adani Power has thermal power plants with capacity of 4620 MW, the largest private thermal power producer of the country. It is also the largest solar power producer of India with capacity 40MW.
The group gives 3 per cent of its profits to the Adani Foundation. He is particularly proud of Adani Vidya Mandir, a school in Ahmedabad which admits only those children whose parents have an annual income less than Rs.1 lakh. The school is run by his wife Priti.
He is the President and CEO of Kaiser Francis Oil, an Anglo-American company based in Tulsa in Oklahoma. He is a graduate of the Harvard Business School.
He is the richest man in Great Britain. He is the 6th Duke of Westminster and he owns substantial number of properties. He is also the Chancellor of the University of Chester. He has estates and properties in Lancashire, Cheshire, Scotland, London, Spain and Canada.
Gerald L. Hassell (born 1952) is an American bank executive and is the Chairman and CEO of The Bank of New York Mellon.
Background:
Gerald Hassell joined the Bank of New York in 1973 when he was only 21 years old as a management trainee, and has held various positions in the credit and corporate banking divisions. He was involved in the formation and operation of the bank's Communications, Entertainment & Publishing Division, and had responsibility for strategic planning and administrative services. Prior to his appointment as president and director in 1998, during which he replaced Tom Renyi who went on to become CEO of the bank, Hassell was a senior executive vice president and chief commercial banking officer. He was also a member of the bank's Senior Policy Committee.
Education and other activities:
Hassell received a BA degree in Economics from Duke University in 1973 and an MBA in Finance from the New York University's Stern School of Business.
He is the former chairman of the Board of Visitors of The Fuqua School of Business at Duke University; a member of The Financial Services Roundtable and Financial Services Forum; a member of the board of Private Export Funding Corporation; and Vice Chairman of Big Brothers/Big Sisters of New York.
Philanthropy:
In 2012, Hassell and his wife, Anita-Agnes, donated $4 million to Duke University.
She inherited Hancock Prospecting from her father, Lang Hancock. The company has a lucrative coal and iron business. She also has media interests through her share in Fairfax Media and Ten Network Holdings. Her company actually has no shareholders so she owns the entire business herself.
Glenn Tilton (born April 1948, in Washington, D.C.) was Midwest Chairman and a member of the Executive Committee, at JP Morgan Chase, a position he has held from June 6, 2011 to 2014. Tilton was formerly non-executive Chairman of United Continental Holdings Inc., the parent company of United Air Lines, Inc. and Continental Airlines, Inc. as of October 1, 2010. Tilton was formerly Chairman, President, and CEO of UAL Corporation from 2002-2010.
Tilton testifies before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation in June 2010
Tilton is also the former Chairman of the Air Transport Association, the industry trade organization representing U.S. airlines.
Tilton grew up in Latin America, and attended high school in Brazil, where his father worked for the United States' Central Intelligence Agency. After earning a bachelor's degree in International Relations from the University of South Carolina, Tilton wanted to start a career in the airline industry, but was warned against it by a family friend, the manager of the Pan American Airways Latin America Division. Tilton listened to the friend's advice and went on to follow his father's footsteps and join the C.I.A. but months before his start date, Tilton began a career in the private sector working for Texaco in 1970, servicing gas stations throughout Washington, D.C.
Tilton attained positions of increasing responsibility over the next three decades, and in early 2001 Tilton was briefly named chairman and chief executive officer before Chevron and Texaco merged to form ChevronTexaco Corporation. He was named vice chairman of the newly merged company in late 2001 and a few months later he was also named interim chairman of Dynegy, in which ChevronTexaco held a significant stake.
In September 2002, Tilton was recruited by the Board of Directors of the struggling UAL Corporation to be Chairman, President, and CEO, replacing John W. Creighton, Jr. as Chairman and CEO, and Rono Dutta as President. The board believed that an airline outsider such as Tilton could turnaround the struggling carrier. UAL Corporation and its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in December 2002, three months into Tilton's tenure.
What would follow would be one of the largest, longest, and most complex bankruptcy cases in American history. UAL Corporation operated in bankruptcy until February 2, 2006.
Tilton is controversial for his stance as a major advocate for consolidation in the airline industry. Tilton has stated he believes it is the only way to end commercial aviation's cycles of booms and busts. Since 2006, Tilton had been searching for a merger partner for United Airlines. In May 2010, Tilton inked a deal to merge UAL Corporation with Continental Airlines, Inc. to form United Continental Holdings, Inc. of which Tilton was the first Chairman of the Board. As agreed prior to the merger of United and Continental, Tilton was replaced by CEO Jeff Smisek as Chairman on December 31, 2012. Tilton remains a board member for UAL.
Tilton serves on the board of directors of Abbott Laboratories and a member of the U.S. Travel & Tourism Advisory Board. Tilton also serves on the board of trustees for the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry, and the board for the Economic Club of Chicago, the Executives' Club of Chicago, and After School Matters, as well as on the civic committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago and the International Relations Advisory Council of Chicago 2016.
Awards:
Glenn F. Tilton was inducted as a Laureate of The Lincoln Academy of Illinois and awarded the Order of Lincoln (the State’s highest honor) by the Governor of Illinois in 2014 in the area of Business & Industry.
Grandhi Mallikarjuna Rao is a mechanical engineer, billionaire industrialist, and the founder chairman of GMR Group,a global infrastructure developer and operator based in India.Started in 1978, GMR Group is now present in 7 countries, active in energy, highways, large urban development and airports sectors, known for building and operating world class national assets.
Early life:
G M Rao was born on 14 July 1950, in Rajam, Srikakulam district in Andhra pradesh, India. He was born in an upper-middle-class family whose main business interests involved commodities trading and a small scale jewelry business started by his father in Rajam. After graduating from Andhra University, Rao joined the Andhra Pradesh Government as a junior engineer.
He soon entered the trading of commodities as his entrepreneurial nature made it difficult for him to stay content with a mere day job. After developing good relations with suppliers and customers in the business of commodities trading, he acquired a failing jute mill for at a bargain, this venture proved to be lucrative and allowed GM Rao is use leverage from local banks to acquire other assets. Eventually GM Rao divested his stake in a multitude of industries and started a bank named Vysya Bank in collaboration with ING.
Rao eventually diluted his stake in this business and decided to enter the business of energy and infrastructure with the proceeds from the sale. The entry into the power business allowed Rao to build what would become India leading infrastructure asset developer, as GMR's closest competitor, GVK, is 6 times smaller by market capitalization, making Rao the leader of India as an infrastructure asset developer by revenues, asset size, and market capitalization.
It is also widely accepted in top brass of the state of Andhra Pradesh that Rao's closeness with Chandra Babu Naidu allowed Rao to become the asset developer and owner for Hyderabad's International Airport Rajiv Gandhi International Airport.
Life and career records:
As per Forbes magazine, G M Rao is the richest Telugu man by sheer quantifiable wealth. He is known for his down to earth nature and simplicity despite his enormous fortune. According to media reports, GMR Group is one of India's most trusted and respect brands. GM Rao received the Economic Times Entrepreneur of the year Award in 2007.