Sibling Success

It's again the turn of an Indian to take over the top job at a well renowned MNC. This time it's Ajay Banga (left), the turbaned Sikh, who also happens to be the younger brother of Unilever veteran Vindi Banga. Ajay, who like his brother walked the hallowed portals of IIM Ahmedabad, has a very different career graph compared to Vindi, but has eventually pipped him to the post in becoming a CEO.

It's well known that Vindi has spent all his career so far at Unilever, only to announce his decision to quit a few weeks back. He was in the running to be made the CEO of Unilever but lost out to Paul Polman, an ex-P&G strongman. Rumours are that Vindi was never comfortable at Unilever in the Polman era.

However, Ajay who started off at Nestle in 1981, has had stints in diverse MNCs like Pepsico and Citibank before eventually joining Mastercard last year. He has relocated to 10 different places in the last 25 years. 

I recently read an article which says that the elder sibling makes a better CEO material and is more likely to succeed in business than the younger one. The article points to the results of studies that show that first-borns have higher IQs. While both the Banga brothers are exceptional business leaders in their own right, it just seems incidental that Banga jr gets to sit at the top post earlier than Vindi.

Also, Vindi Banga was recently awarded the Padma Bhushan along with a host of other achievers and a certain Sant Singh Chatwal. While the issue of a hotelier being awarded the prestigious civilian honor has been discussed at length in the Indian press, all I wish to say is that there are other high-achieving Indians who deserve the honor, without getting overlooked. 

And I hope the Banga family would soon cheer for another of their illustrious sons receiving the coveted award from the President of India!