US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that Ajay Banga will head the World Bank. If the board of directors approve his nomination, he will become the first person of India origins to assume the prestigious post. Biden praised him for his significant expertise on issues like climate change. Banga is one of the most accomplished professionals in the world. He was the chief operating officer at Mastercard where he earned a whopping Rs 52,60,000 per day. Banga retired from Mastercard last year. He is presently the vice chairman of the equity firm General Atlantic. Before Mastercard, Ajay Banga had been with the Citigroup and Nestle in India. He is also the chairman of Exor, a Dutch investment firm.
Currently, the World Bank's chief economist Indermeet Gill is also of Indian descent. Ajay Banga has over 30 years of experience. He has been on the boards of American Red Cross, Craft Foods and Dow Ink. Ajay Banga studied in economics at Delhi's St Stephens College.
Per CNBC, Ajay Banga's net worth was 206 million US dollars in 2021. This translates into over Rs 1700 crore.
Ajay Banga has $113,123,489 worth of Mastercard stocks. Over the last 13 years, he sold stocks worth lakhs of dollars. At Mastercard, he was earning $23,250,000 per year. In Indian rupees, this is around Rs 1,92,32,46,975. This means his salary package was Rs 52 lakh per day.
Ajay Banga is the son of Lieutenant General Harbhajan Banga of the Indian army. His family is a native of Punjab's Jalandhar.
He received his educated from Hyderabad Public School. He later did his MLA from IIM Ahmedabad.
Banga started his career in 1981 with Nestle. He remained with the company for 13 years. He later joined PepsiCo. He received Padma Shri, the third highest civilian honour.
