Sandeep Bakhshi, the MD and CEO of the ICICI Bank, is one of the highest paid bankers of India. He is credited with taking the bank out of one of its darkest chapters -- his predecessor Chanda Kochchar resigning under a cloud of allegations of financial irregularities. He took the reins of the bank in 2018. Within five years, he has brought it back on the growth trajectory. When he took charge, the share price at BSE was Rs 313.35; yesterday, it closed at Rs 825. This shows that the investors have been showing faith in the bank's management.
Under Sandeep Bakhshi, the market capitalisation of the ICICI bank rose to approximately Rs 5.74 lakh crore. The market cap can be described as the total market value of all shares of a publicly traded company.
Bakhshi has nearly four decades of corporate experience. He is an engineer and manager by education. He studied mechanical engineering from Chandigarh's Punjab Engineering College. He did a post graduate degree from the prestigious Xavier School of Management, Jamshedpur.
Bakshi joined ICICI in 1986. He was appointed the MD and CEO of the bank in 2018. Before assuming the top position, he was the managing director and CEO of ICICI Prudential for eight years. Before that, he was the top executive of ICICI Lombard.
Prior to his appointment as MD & CEO, he was a Wholetime Director and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Bank.
Independent banking expert Hemindra Hazari, talking about his style of functioning, had told Forbes that Bakshi had been successful in leading a cultural transformation at ICICI bank and that he was a humble leader with a low-profile approach. Another expert told the magazine that he had ensured a greater level of scrutiny of borrowers.
He maintains a low profile and lets the numbers do the talking.
Bakhshi is one of the most well paid bank leaders in India.
His annual salary in the financial year 2022 was Rs 7.08 crore, which is around Rs 65 lakh per month. He had famously relinquished his 2021 salary due to the coronavirus pandemic-induced financial crunch.
