Ajay Banga

Ajay Banga   (businessman)
Born	November 10, 1959
Nationality	US
Alma mater	University of Delhi, Indian Institute of Management
Member of	Business Roundtable, Council for Inclusive Capitalism with the Vatican, Council on Foreign Relations/Members, Dow Chemical, Mastercard, Trilateral Commission Task Force on Global Capitalism in Transition
Indian-US business with a lot of connections, especially to processed food. As Mastercard executive interested in a cashless society.

Ajaypal Singh Banga is an Indian-American business executive. He is currently executive chairman of Mastercard, having previously was president and CEO of the company from July 2010 until December 31, 2020.

Banga succeeded Robert W. Selander, who had been CEO since March 1997.

In February 2015, President Barack Obama appointed Banga to serve as a member of the President's Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations.

Banga is the former chairman of the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC) representing more than 300 of the largest international companies investing in India, and chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce. He is also a member of the board of directors of the Dow Chemical Company; member of the Council on Foreign Relations; and member of International Business Council of the World Economic Forum.

Ajay Banga has spent a decade as chief executive of Mastercard. Last year, he oversaw $6.5 trillion in transactions. That means he knows what we’re spending right now (aggregated and anonymized, of course) and how long it might take to get us out of our current economic funk. It also means Mr. Banga has leverage over virtually any business that relies on credit card payments.

Early life

Banga was born November 10, 1959 into a Sikh family in Khadki, Pune, Maharashtra, India where his father, an army officer, was posted. His family is originally from Jalandhar, Punjab. His father, Harbhajan Singh Banga is a retired lieutenant-general who served in the Indian Army. He is the younger brother of businessman M. S. Banga.

Banga grew up and attended schools across India, successively in Secunderabad, Jalandhar, Delhi, Ahmedabad, before finishing his schooling in Shimla.

His primary education was completed at the Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet. Banga went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from St. Stephen's College, Delhi University followed by PGP in Management (equivalent to MBA) from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Career

Beginning his business career with Nestlé in 1981, Banga spent the next 13 years working in jobs spanning sales, marketing, and general management. He later joined PepsiCo and was involved in the launch of its international fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalized.

Banga was vice chairman of the board of trustees of the New York Hall of Science and a board member of the National Urban League. He was formerly a business sponsor of Citi's African heritage network – NYC.

Banga has a keen interest in social development issues, and over the period from 2005 to mid-2009, he spearheaded Citi's strategy in the microfinance sector across the world.

Banga is a regular speaker at various FinTech conferences and various leadership conferences. He also appeared on the Mad Money show hosted by Jim Cramer on Thursday, 6 Nov 2014

Banga, was the keynote speaker at the NYU Stern 2014 Graduate Convocation on May 22, 2014, where he spoke about the importance of diversity in driving innovation and leadership. He also was a keynote speaker for his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, during the Class of 2015's convocation.

In 2020 he was elected chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce succeeding Paul Polman. He previously was ICC’s First Vice-Chair since June 2018.

As Mastercard Executive Chairman Ajay Banga has taken hefty pay packages. In 2020, the last year as CEO, he took $27.7 million, which in size surpasses all but two CEOs among the largest U.S.-based banks.

The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2016.

 

Events Participated in

Event	Start	End	Location(s)	Description
WEF/Annual Meeting/2014	22 January 2014	25 January 2014	World Economic Forum Switzerland	2604 guests in Davos considered "Reshaping The World"
WEF/Annual Meeting/2017	17 January 2017	20 January 2017	World Economic Forum Switzerland	2950 known participants, including prominently Bill Gates. "Offers a platform for the most effective and engaged leaders to achieve common goals for greater societal leadership."
WEF/Annual Meeting/2020	21 January 2020	24 January 2020	World Economic Forum Switzerland	This mega-summit of the world's ruling class and their political and media appendages happens every year, but 2020 was special, as the continuous corporate media coverage of COVID-19 started more or less from one day to the next on 20/21 January 2020, coinciding with the start of the meeting.

Many thanks to our Patrons who cover ~2/3 of our hosting bill. Please join them if you can.