Ajay Singh Banga is an American business executive born in India. He is currently General Atlantic’s vice chairman. He was born on November 10, 1959.
He was Mastercard’s executive chairman after previously leading the organization as president and CEO from July 2010 until December 31, 2020. On December 31, 2021, he decided to leave his position and join General Atlantic. Along with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, he is the co-chairman of the public-private Partnership for Central America and the Dutch investment holding company Exor.
Banga has served as both the chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce and the U.S.-India Business Council (USIBC), which represents more than 300 of the biggest foreign corporations investing in India.
President Joe Biden has proposed Banga for the position of World Bank Group president, which has historically been filled by an American.
Ajay Banga: Early Life and Education
Ajay Banga was born into a Sikh family and was raised in the Khadki cantonment of Pune, Maharashtra, India, where his father, an army officer, was stationed. His lineage are from the Punjabi city of Jalandhar. His father, retired lieutenant-general Harbhajan Singh Banga, served in the Indian Army. He is the younger brother of M. S. Banga, a businessman.
Banga attended the Hyderabad Public School in Hyderabad as well as St. Edward’s School in Shimla for his education. He then earned a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Economics from St. Stephen’s College in Delhi before completing an MBA-equivalent PGP in Management at the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad.
In 2007, Banga became a citizen of the US.
Ajay Banga: Career
In 1981, Banga began his professional career as a management trainee with Nestlé. Over the following 13 years, he held positions in sales, marketing, and general management. Later, after joining PepsiCo, he helped the country of India introduce its foreign fast food chains, including Pizza Hut and KFC.
Citigroup
In order to complete his schooling, Banga briefly worked as a debt collector before joining Citigroup in 1996.From 2000 to 2002, he served as the president of CitiFinancial and the US Consumer Assets Division.
He served as the head of Citi’s International Global Consumer Group, which oversaw all consumer banking and credit card activities outside of North America, from 2005 until 2008. He was in charge of developing Citi’s global microfinance strategy at the time.
In 2008, Banga was appointed the bank’s Asia-Pacific division’s chief executive, splitting his time between New York and Hong Kong. In this role, he oversaw a significant restructure of Citigroup’s Asian business in 2008 that enhanced the authority of regional heads across all of the bank’s product lines. Banga was one of Citigroup’s best paid executives in 2008 according to his roughly $10 million remuneration package.
Mastercard
Banga, who served as Mastercard’s chief operating officer (COO), was named president and chief executive officer (effective July 1, 2010) and a member of the board of directors in an announcement made in April 2010. Robert W. Selander, who had served as CEO since March 1997, was succeeded by Banga. He received $13.5 million in his first year.
During his leadership, Banga tripled sales, more than doubled net profits, and boosted market capitalization from $30 billion to over $300 billion.
He unveiled Mastercard’s vow to plant 100 million trees in 2020 and announced the formation of the Priceless Planet Coalition, a group of over 100 businesses that make corporate contributions to protect the environment.
Banga was chosen to succeed Paul Polman as chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in 2020. Since June 2018, he had been the ICC’s First Vice-Chair. Banga started working at General Atlantic as vice chairman on January 1, 2022.
Public sector
President Barack Obama appointed Banga to the President’s Advisory Committee for Trade Policy and Negotiations in February 2015.
As chairman of the Partnership for Central America since the 2020 elections, Banga has served as Vice President Kamala Harris’ outside adviser, advising her on the administration’s activities in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras.
President Biden proposed Banga as the next head of the World Bank on February 23, 2023.
Ajay Banga: Net Worth and Salary
He has $113,123,489 in Mastercard stock. Ajay Banga reportedly received a salary from Mastercard of $23,250,000 (about Rs. 1.92 billion) annually, or Rs. 5.2 million each day.
Ajay Banga: Recognitions
On May 22, 2014, Banga delivered the keynote address at the NYU Stern 2014 Graduate Convocation, where he discussed the value of diversity in fostering innovation and leadership.
He also served as the keynote speaker for the convocation of the Class of 2015 at his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Banga is a frequent speaker at FinTech and leadership conferences. On November 6, 2014, he also made an appearance on Jim Cramer’s Mad Money show.
In 2016, the Indian government gave Banga the Padma Shri, a civil honor.
