Jehangir Nusli "Jeh" Wadia (born 6 July 1973) is an Indian businessman, who was the Managing Director of Go First,

Bombay Dyeing Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company Limited is an Indian textile company headquartered in Mumbai, India. It operates as a subsidiary of the Wadia Group and is one of India's largest producers of textiles. Its current chairman is Nusli Wadia. ...

and

Bombay Realty Wadia Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate, founded in Surat, headquartered in Mumbai. It was founded by Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia in 1736 and is the oldest company in India, with its subsidiary The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation ...

. He was also a Director on the Boards of

Britannia Industries Britannia Industries Limited is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational food products company, which sells biscuits, breads and dairy products. Founded in 1892, it is one of India's oldest existing companies and currently part of t ...

, the

Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited (BBTC) is an Indian trading company based in Mumbai owned by the Wadia Group. It was formed in 1863 by the Wallace Brothers of Scotland. It is India's oldest publicly traded company, and was esta ...

, Wadia Techno – Engineering Services and others. Wadia, his father and his brother are the only direct living descendants of

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 187611 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the inception of Pa ...

and

his family ''His Family'' is a novel by Ernest Poole published in 1917 about the life of a New York widower and his three daughters in the 1910s. It received the first Pulitzer Prize for the Novel in 1918. Plot introduction ''His Family'' tells the story ...

Life and career

Wadia was born in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

to businessman

Nusli Wadia Nusli Neville Wadia (born 15 February 1944) is an Indian businessman. He is the chairman of the Wadia Group, a conglomerate with interests in various industries such as textiles, aviation, chemicals, and real estate. His father, Neville Wadia, ...

and former air hostess Maureen Wadia. He has one brother,

Ness Wadia Ness Nusli Wadia (born 30 May 1971) is an Indian businessman. Wadia is the managing director of Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, a company which has holdings in most of the Wadia Group subsidiaries, including an indirect majority stake in Br ...

, who is a businessman. His paternal grandparents are

Neville Wadia Neville Ness Wadia (22 August 1911 – 31 July 1996) was a British born Indian businessman, philanthropist and a member of the Wadia family, an old Parsi family which, by the 1840s, was one of the leading forces in the Indian shipbuildin ...

and Dina Jinnah. His great-grandparents were

and

Rattanbai Petit Rattanbai Jinnah ( Petit, also known as Maryam Jinnah; 20 February 1900 – 20 February 1929), informally known as Ruttie, was the wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, an important figure in the creation of Pakistan and the country's founder. Petit b ...

, both part of the illustrious Jinnah and the Petit family. His other great-grandfather, Sir Ness Wadia, played an important role in turning the city of Bombay into one of the world's largest cotton gin trading centers during the late 19th century. Wadia did his initial schooling from the Lawrence School in

Sanawar The Lawrence School, Sanawar, is the oldest Private school, private boarding school in Himachal Pradesh, which is located in Kasauli near Solan, Solan city. Established in 1847, its history, influence, and wealth have made it one of the most pre ...

and moved to a boarding school in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to complete his graduation. Jehangir earned a master's degree in science from the

Warwick University The University of Warwick ( ; abbreviated as ''Warw.'' in post-nominal letters) is a public research university on the outskirts of Coventry between the West Midlands and Warwickshire, England. The university was founded in 1965 as part of a ...

in England. The

Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the High courts of India, high court of the States and union territories of India, states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily ...

in 1999 stopped Wadia from holding a

New Year's Eve In the Gregorian calendar, New Year's Eve refers to the evening, or commonly the entire day, of the last day of the year, 31 December, also known as Old Year's Day. In many countries, New Year's Eve is celebrated with dancing, eating, drinkin ...

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

party in

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

, for which he had illegally occupied government-owned land. Wadia is married to Celina since 2003 who is from

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, they met in London and have two children together, Jr. Jahangir and Ella. Celina runs her own fashion line under the brand name C Femme. Wadia is the managing director of GoAir (founded in 2005). The

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental organization, international advocacy non-governmental organization and think tank, based in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German ...

elected him as a Young Global Leader in the year 2008. Wadia was the Managing Director of

Go First Go First, founded as GoAir, was an Indian low-cost airline based in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Owned by the Indian business conglomerate Wadia Group, it commenced operations on 4 November 2005 and operated a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft in an all ...

and its real estate division Bombay Realty. He is also a Director on the boards of

, the

, Wadia Techno – Engineering Services and others.

References

Living people 1973 births Indian aviation businesspeople Parsi people from Mumbai Businesspeople from Mumbai Lawrence School, Sanawar alumni Wadia family {{India-business-bio-stub