Chairman and CEO of Mahindra & Mahindra, Anand Mahindra is not just another businessman. An inspiration to many Mahindra is more than a name. While he’s only a google search away here’s 11 interesting facts about one of the leading businessmen of India.
1. Donation
Anand Mahindra’s donation of $10 million to the Harvard Humanities Center, which is being relaunched as the Mahindra Humanities Center is the largest personal donation overseas by an Indian.
He is also the co-founder of the Harvard Business School Association of India, an association dedicated to the promotion of professional management in India.
2. His Interests
Other than his business and entrepreneurial interests Mahindra enjoys sailing, tennis and reading. He is also a keen photographer with a strong interest in films. He also enjoys listening to the Blues and helped set up an annual Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai in 2011. The Mahindra Blues festival is Asia’s largest Blues festival, featuring some of the world’s best Blues musicians for a two-day festival in Mumbai, India.
3. The Nanhi Kali Program
Initiated in 1996, he is the founder of project Nanhi Kali which aims to provide primary education to underprivileged girls in India. As of September 2017, the project has supported 130,000 underprivileged girls across the country.
He also co-founded Naandi Danone, which is the largest safe drinking water provider to rural areas of the country, which caters to nearly 3 million customers.
4. Social Media
Mahindra enjoys his time on Twitter and is known for his witty and savage tweets. He has a following of 7.26 million on Twitter and was ranked third in the inaugural WorldofCEOs.com 2013 ranking of the Top 30 CEOs on Social Media.
5. Connection With ARAI
As an industry participant, Anand Mahindra was the President of the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI), which plays a crucial role in assuring less polluting, safe, and more efficient vehicles. ARAI provides technical expertise in R&D, testing, certification, homologation and framing of vehicle regulations.
6. Net Worth
The Chairman & CEO of Mahindra and Mahindra has a real time net worth of a whopping $1.7 billion according to Forbes.
7. Language
Apart from fluent Hindi and English, Mahindra is also familiar with the language Tamil, since he studied in Lawrence School, Lovedale in Ooty, Tamil Nadu.
8. Family
Anand Mahindra is the third generation in Mahindra family, a business started in 1945 by his Grandfather K.C. Mahindra, J.C. Mahindra, and Ghulam Muhammad to trade steel.
A happy family man, he is married to Anuradha Mahindra, who is is the founder, editor and publisher of Verve, a lifestyle magazine and have two daughters, Aalika and Divya.
9. First Role In The Business
Anand Mahindra’s first role in the business was as an executive assistant to the finance director in 1981 for Mahindra Ugine Steel Company (MUSCO), the country’s foremost producer of specialty steels.
10. Education
Anand Mahindra is highly educated and hols multiple degrees from prestige universities. He has studied filmmaking and architecture and graduated with Honors from Harvard College, Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1977. He has also done his MBA from Harvard Business School, Boston, Massachusetts in 1981.
11. Forbes Rank
He was listed at number 88 in 2019 in India’s Richest by Forbes.
