Adi Burjorji Godrej (born 3 April 1942) is an Indian

billionaire A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000, i.e., a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. The American busi ...

businessman and industrialist, head of the Godrej family, and chairman of the

Godrej Group Godrej Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, which is managed and largely owned by the Godrej family. It was founded by Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej in 1897, and operates in sectors includin ...

. , he has a net worth of US$2.3 billion.

Early life

Godrej completed his schooling at St. Xavier's High School and then St. Xavier's College, Mumbai for two years. He earned an undergraduate degree from HL college and an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

MIT Sloan School of Management The MIT Sloan School of Management (MIT Sloan or Sloan) is the business school of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT Sloan offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degree programs ...

, where he was a member of the

Pi Lambda Phi Pi Lambda Phi (), commonly known as Pi Lam, is a social fraternity with 145 chapters (44 active chapters/colonies). The fraternity was founded in 1895 at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Pi Lambda Phi is headlined by prestigious chapte ...

fraternity and a member of

Tau Beta Pi The Tau Beta Pi Association (commonly Tau Beta Pi, , or TBP) is the oldest engineering honor society and the second oldest collegiate honor society in the United States. It honors engineering students in American universities who have shown a ...

Career

After his return to India, he joined the family business. He modernised the management structure and implemented process improvements. Adi Godrej took the

to great heights during the

License Raj The Licence Raj or Permit Raj (''rāj'', meaning "rule" in Hindi) was the system of licences, regulations, and accompanying red tape, that hindered the set up and running of businesses in India between 1947 and 1990. Up to 80 government agencies ...

. He heads the group alongside his brother, managing director of

Godrej Industries Godrej Industries Limited is a holding company of the Godrej Group. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai, India. Division Godrej Industries has the following divisions; * Godrej Chemicals * Godrej Agrovet *Godrej Consumer Products *Godre ...

and chairman of Godrej Agrovet,

Nadir Godrej Nadir Burjorji Godrej (born 1951) is an Indian chemical engineer, industrialist and member of the Godrej family. He is managing director of Godrej Industries, one of India's biggest businesses, and as chairman of Godrej Agrovet. Background an ...

, and his cousin, Godrej & Boyce managing director and chairman,

Jamshyd Godrej Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej is an Indian industrialist and member of the Godrej family, currently serving as managing director and chairman of Godrej & Boyce, the holding company of the Godrej group. Godrej & Boyce is a diversified business with a p ...

. In 2021 he announced his plans to step down as Chairman of Godrej Industries Ltd, holding company of the

. He would still serve as Chairman of the Godrej Group and Chairman-Emeritus of GIL. Under his stewardship, Godrej Consumer Products has grown into a strong emerging market FMCG player based on a 3X3 approach to international expansion — building a presence in three emerging markets (Asia, Africa, Latin America) across three categories (home care, personal wash, hair care).

Beyond Godrej

He has been president of several Indian trade and industrial bodies and associations. He was the chairman of the

Indian School of Business The Indian School of Business (ISB) is a private business school established in India in 2001. It has two parallel campuses in India, in Hyderabad (Telangana) and Mohali (Punjab). It offers certificates in various post-graduate management prog ...

from April 2011 to April 2018 and was elected as the president of the

Confederation of Indian Industry The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is a non-governmental trade association and advocacy group headquartered in New Delhi, India, founded in 1895. CII engages business, political, academic, and other leaders of society to shape globa ...

(CII) for the year 2012–13. He has been a member of the dean's advisory council of the

, and chairman of the board of governors of the

Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies SVKM's NMIMS is a private deemed university located in Mumbai. The University also has campuses at Shirpur, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Indore and Navi Mumbai and two upcoming campuses in Dhule and Chandigarh. It has 17 constituent schools that of ...

. Twenty-five percent of the shares of the Godrej holding company are held in trusts that include the Pirojsha Godrej Foundation, the Soonabai Pirojsha Godrej Foundation, and the Godrej Memorial Trust. Through these trusts the Group supports healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability initiatives such as The Mangroves,

Teach for India Teach For India (TFI) is a non-profit founded by Shaheen Mistri in 2009. It is a part of the Teach For All network. Teach For India runs a two-year Fellowship and supports an Alumni movement. The Fellowship recruits college graduates and wor ...

, WWF, and the Godrej Memorial Hospital.

Personal life

He was married to socialite and philanthropist Parmeshwar Godrej until her death in October 2016 and has three children. They live in

Malabar Hill Malabar Hill (ISO: Malabār Hill ələbaːɾ is a hillock and upmarket residential neighbourhood in South Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Malabar Hill is the most exclusive residential area in Mumbai. It is home to several business tycoons and ...

South Mumbai South Mumbai, colloquially SoBo from South Bombay in Anglo-Indian English, administratively the Mumbai City District, is the city centre and the southernmost precinct of Greater Bombay. It extends from Colaba to Mahim and Sion neighbour ...

References

External links

Profile at Godrej Group
{{DEFAULTSORT:Godrej, Adi Businesspeople from Mumbai Parsi people from Mumbai Indian billionaires MIT Sloan School of Management alumni Living people 1942 births Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in trade and industry Godrej Group Cathedral and John Connon School alumni 20th-century Indian businesspeople Godrej family