Adi Godrej
Adi Godrej (born 3 April 1942) is an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. As of 2011, he is one of the richest Indians with net worth of US$7.3 billion. He is 130 on Forbes List of Billionaires. Also He is the second richest person of Iranian descent in the world after Pallonji Mistry.
Adi Godrej is one of the icons of Indian Industry. He is the chairman of Godrej Group. .Adi Godrej was born in a business family. His father's name was Burjorji Godrej and his mother's name was Jai Godrej. More than a century age, the Godrej's were into manufacturing locks and vegetable-based soaps. The Godrej products were among the first indigenously manufactured products to displace entrenched foreign brands.
Adi Godrej left India at the age of 17 to enroll at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Though he planned to study mechanical engineering but he later on switched to management. After his return to India, Adi Godrej joined the family business. He modernized and systematized management structures and implemented process improvements. Adi Godrej took the Godrej Group to great height during controlled economy era.
After the liberalization process, Adi Godrej restructured company's policies to meet the challenges of globalisation. In the early 2000s, the Group completed a 10-year restructuring process through which each business became a stand-alone company with a CEO/COO from outside the Godrej family.
Today, Godrej manufactures a wide range of products spanning from household products to locks, furniture and home appliances. The name itself has become synonymous with quality and commands a lot of faith from the consumers. Adi has made the best possible use of the process of globalisation in the country. The Godrej company has several offices and manufacturing units located in over fifty countries throughout the world. Adi is also a great supporter and well wisher of the World Wildlife Fund. The company has built a huge 150 acre mangrove forests in the township of Vikhroli in Mumbai apart from building a school for the children of the employees. The company has also built a management institute at Hyderabad.
