SUNDAR PICHAI, 49
CEO, ALPHABET (HQ: US) SINCE
OCT 2015
COMPANY REVENUE $182.53 billion
PLACE OF BIRTH MADURAI, TAMIL NADU
EDUCATION BTech (Metallurgical engineering), IIT Kharagpur
Master's (engineering), Stanford
MBA, Wharton School of Business
CAREER Applied Materials
McKinsey & Company
Google/Alphabet (since 2004)
Spearheaded development of Android One and Chrome OS
It is customary for visiting heads of governments to meet not just ministers and diplomats, but also captains of industry and leaders of society. It was during the visit of Indian prime minister Manmohan Singh to the US in 2009 that Pepsi chief executive officer Indra Nooyi, one of the earliest Indians to head a Fortune 500 company, found herself on such a list.
“When he got to me, prime minister Singh exclaimed, “Oh! But she is one of us!” Nooyi recounts in her autobiography, My Life in Full, released recently. President Barack Obama, with a big smile and without missing a beat, responded, “Ah, but she is one of us, too!”
A highlight of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official visit to the US in September was a meeting with the CEOs of five multinational companies. However, unlike a formal introduction before a state banquet or a tete-a-tete on the sidelines of a conference—where the personalities are selected keeping in mind the sensibilities of diversity and representation—the selection was purely based on business interests.
This story is from the October 24, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
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This story is from the October 24, 2021 edition of THE WEEK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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