Falguni Nayar becomes India’s first self-made female billionaire

Falguni Nayar, founder and CEO of Nykaa, the beauty start-up, has become India’s wealthiest and the first self-made female billionaire as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Falguni is currently worth about $6.5 billion as shares of the firm swelled post her debut IPO with a market valuation exceeding the Rs 1 lakh crore ($13.47 billion) mark. With her new wealth status, Falguni joins six other Indian women billionaires in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. She owns around 52.56% stake in the company, which has grown to US $7.90 billion (around Rs 58,635 crore), making her the second wealthiest woman promoter after O P Jindal Group’s Savitri Jindal (net worth $18 billion), as per the Forbes list. Falguni’s flagship venture, FSN E-Commerce Ventures, is the first woman-led unicorn in India to hit the stock exchange. She co-owns the company through two family trusts and seven other promoter entities. Her Ivy League educated daughter and son are co-promoters and run different Nykaa units. Nayar kick-started her career as consultant with A.F. Ferguson & Co, followed by an impressive 18+ years’ stint with Kotak Mahindra Bank. She helmed several businesses and was the Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Capital and Director of Kotak Securities. An alum of the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad (IIM-A), Falguni’s firm, Nykaa, has emerged as India’s leading beauty retailer with a portfolio of 1500+ brands, including its own private label, which is available online and across 68 stores in India. She risked launching a startup months before she turned 50 years in a sector that had no prior background in India. Falguni has become the ‘heroine,’ or ‘Nykaa’ in Sanskrit, steering a 1600-strong team and building it into a beauty and lifestyle retail empire.

Ruchir Sharma

Morgan Stanley’s Ruchir Sharma resigns

Veteran investment banker Ruchir Sharma has resigned from Morgan Stanley Investment Management and will relinquish his position as the head of emerging markets equity team. In a previous role, he was the chief global strategist with the American multinational investment bank and financial services company. Amy Oldenburg will soon replace Sharma. Born in Jaipur but based out of New York, his resignation marks the end of his 27 years’ journey with the investment group. Sharma had joined Morgan Stanley Investment Management in 1996. Besides being an investment banker, he is also a reputed author and a contributing opinion writer with The New York Times. He has authored for The Wall Street Journal, The Financial Times, Newsweek, TIME Magazine and Foreign Affairs. Bloomberg had recognised him as one of the top 50 Most Influential people in the world in October 2015. A prolific author, he has also written the 2012 international best seller, Breakout Nations, and The Rise and Fall of Nations in 2016. His latest work is The 10 Rules of Successful Nations.

Shaktikanta Das

Shaktikanta Das, reappointed as RBI Governor

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has re-appointed Shaktikanta Das as the governor for three more years, effective from December 10, 2021. The decision was approved by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet, headed by PM Narendra Modi. With his term extension, Das, a retired Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer, continues his role as the 25th governor of the RBI. In his first term, he had taken charge of the apex bank on December 11, 2018, following the abrupt resignation of his predecessor Urjit Patel. Prior to his RBI top role, he also served as the department of economic affairs secretary under the Ministry of Finance (MoF). A 1980 batch officer, he has been successfully steering the economy during the COVID-19 pandemic and the aftermath. He has made digital payments more accessible and has had experience in diverse areas of governance, holding key positions in the Central and State Governments across Finance, Taxation, Industries, and Infrastructure sectors. An alum of St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University, he has been a part of eight Union Budgets during his long tenure with the MoF. He served as India’s Alternate Governor in the Asian Development Bank (ADB), World Bank, Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) and New Development Bank (NDB). In his earlier stint as Economic Affairs Secretary from 2015 to 2017, he worked closely with the RBI and supervised the demonetisation of high-value notes in 2016. He headed the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) and brought down the benchmark interest rate to a record low of 4% in May 2020. He was conferred the title of ‘India’s G-20 Sherpa’ and was a member of the 15th Finance Commission. If Das successfully completes his 6-year tenure, he would become the longest-serving RBI governor since Benegal Rama Rau, who had helmed the central bank between July 1, 1949-January 14, 1957.

Yezdi Nagporewalla

Veteran Nagporewalla takes over as CEO, KPMG India

Yezdi Nagporewalla takes over as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of KPMG India succeeding, Arun M Kumar, the current chairperson and CEO, who will complete his 5-year term in February 2022. Nagporewalla will hold post as the new CEO of KPMG India for a 4-year tenure starting February 7, 2022, to December 31, 2026. The company had recently split the roles of chairperson and CEO and with Nagporewalla’s appointment, KPMG is expected to announce the chairperson in the coming months. Nagporewalla’s KPMG association dates back to 2000, when he joined the financial and tax advisory team two decades ago. His experience brings, managing sectors such as manufacturing, infrastructure, and construction. He led the industrial markets and in the automotive sector, he was the sector head, and also member of KPMG’s global automotive steering committee. He was also on the KPMG India board for 6 years. His understanding of the Indian market, proven history in client servicing in complex environments and strong leadership skills, qualifies him for the top role at KPMG India. Nagporewalla was also a member of the National Committee of Logistics at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and a member of the managing committee of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce.

Sanjeev Churiwala

Tata Power ropes in ex-Diageo finance veteran

Tata Power has roped in former Diageo executive Sanjeev Churiwala as the new chief financial officer (CFO). He replaces Ramesh Subramanyam, the current finance executive, who moves into a new role within the Tata Group. With the appointment of the former Diageo regional finance director-APAC and Global Travel Retail, Tata power, one of the private power producers, will gain from Churiwala’s 27 years+ corporate experience. A professional Chartered Accountant, Churiwala’s experience spans the entire breadth of finance, reporting and controlling of listed companies, which also includes exposure to projects, supply chain, fundraising, and M&A. In previous roles, he was the CFO and a board member with Ambuja Cements Ltd and has had a stint with Electrosteel Castings Ltd, India. He is an alum of the London Business School, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and the Institute of Company Secretaries of India.

Yogi (L&T) and Pallavi (PepsiCo) bag ET Human Capital Awards

For their notable services in the HR field, Yogi Sriram, Advisor to CEO & MD and Group Human Resources, Larsen & Toubro, was recognised with the Lifetime Achievement Award at The Economic Times Human Capital Awards. HR leader at PepsiCo, Pallavi Banerjee, received the Diversity & Inclusion Specialist Award for her exceptional work in developing inclusive initiatives at the workplace. In addition, Larsen & Toubro and Tata Consultancy Services, won gold medals for Excellence in HR Digital Transformation. Dabur India received the Excellence in HR Business Partnership function, while MakeMyTrip bagged the gold medal for Excellence in Onboarding Programs.

Harish Narayanan

Myntra CMO Narayanan quits, CEO and CFO to exit

Harish Narayanan, chief marketing officer (CMO) at Myntra, has resigned and will be joining an EdTech start-up, post his exit from the company in January 2022. His departure coincides with that of Amar Nagaram, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Myntra, who will hold his post till December 2021 and gradually move into an advisory role. Narayanan led the marketing, creative and design and brand partnerships teams in Myntra and was responsible for the company’s growth in all the laterals across the marketing domain. Narayanan had joined Myntra as CMO in June 2019. In previous stints, he has had a career spanning more than a decade, collaborating with companies like Procter & Gamble and Google, heading their B2B marketing and YouTube APAC. In another significant move, Flipkart’s Nandita Sinha will join Myntra, replacing Nagaram as the CEO in January 2022. Currently she is the Vice President, Customer Growth and Marketing at Flipkart. As per industry, Ramesh Bafna, chief financial officer (CFO) has also put in his papers at the fashion marketplace. Sriram Venkatraman, the Group CFO, will be the key advisor to the leadership team, and the interim CFO for the next few months.

Isha Ambani

Isha Ambani appointed to the Smithsonian board

Isha Ambani, a board member of Reliance Jio Infocomm, Reliance Retail and Reliance Foundation, is the latest appointee on the Board of Trustees of the prestigious Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art. Isha thus follows her mother Nita Ambani’s footsteps, when Nita in 2019, was elected to the board of New York’s The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Isha’s appointment was approved by the Smithsonian’s board of regents, led by the U.S. Chief Justice John G. Roberts and ex-officio Vice-President Kamala D. Harris. With her new status, the daughter of business tycoon Anil Ambani, becomes a part of the U.S.-based Smithsonian Institution, one of the world’s largest museums, and an education and research complex. Her 4-year term beginning 2021, marks her as one of the youngest board members in the line-up with the best of the Smithsonian’s 17-member Board of Regents, comprising of the Chief Justice of the U.S., Vice President of the U.S., 3 members each of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives and 9 other citizens. As the Smithsonian gears up to mark their centennial in 2023, the appointees will enable the museum to prepare for the milestone celebration, facilitating the museum’s transformative vision for the next century, by widening and deepening the museum’s onsite and online reach and impact.

Shalini Poddar

Ex- Google Business Head joins Disney+Hotstar

Disney+Hotstar has roped in former Google executive, Shalini Poddar as EVP - Head of ad sales, replacing Gulshan Verma who quit the streaming service to join as chief executive officer of Jio Ads. Shalini will be responsible for country ad sales revenue and strategy while leading teams across multiple features of the ads business. she will be steering the 140+ talented team, responsible for business planning, sales, sales strategy including pricing and formats, revenue management, operations, data partnerships, programmatic, brand lab, measurement/ROI, and customer marketing. She was previously Head of Business Development, Google Play India, and Google Play Apps - India, Southeast Asia, and Australia with over eight years stint with the tech giant. She brings 17 years’ experience in running ads businesses, as well as shaping and delivering transformational partnerships and product interventions. With a strong business acumen, sales, and leadership experience she has steered multiple business verticals across consulting, strategy, business development, sales, partnerships and marketing. In previous stints, she was the Engagement Manager at Accenture Management Consulting. She began her career as a summer intern with Deutsche Bank, moving on as Associate Vice-President, Client Relations with Kotak Mahindra Bank. An alum of the Indian Institute of Management-Calcutta (IIM-C), she graduated from Delhi University.