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Nusli Wadia

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Nusli Wadia
Born (1944-02-15) 15 February 1944 (age 80)
Bombay, Bombay Presidency, British India
OccupationBusinessman
SpouseMaureen Wadia
ChildrenNess Wadia
Jehangir Wadia
Parents
FamilyWadia family and Jinnah family

Nusli Wadia (born 15 February 1944) is an Indian billionaire businessman and the chairman of the Wadia Group, an Indian conglomerate involved in the FMCG, textiles and real estate industries among others.[1] His net worth was estimated at US$4.1 billion by Forbes in August 2021.[2]

Personal life

See also: Wadia family

Nusli was born into the prominent Parsi Wadia family in Bombay. He is the son of businessman Neville Wadia and Dina Wadia.[citation needed] His paternal grandfather Sir Ness Wadia was a well known textile industrialist and played an important role during the late 19th century in turning the city of Bombay into one of the world's largest cotton trading centers, while his paternal grandmother was Lady Evelyne Clara Powell Wadia. His maternal grandfather Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the founder of Pakistan, while, his maternal grandmother, Rattanbai Petit was born into one of the elite Parsi families of India, the Petit. He once held a British citizenship for sometime by descent as his father had been born in the UK. Wadia was educated at Cathedral and John Connon School. He was also educated at the Rugby School in England. He later went to the University of Florida and earned a PhD in Chemical Engineering.[3]

He is married to Maureen Wadia, a former air hostess, who heads Gladrags magazine and is one of the organizers of Mrs. India beauty pageant. They have two sons: Ness Wadia and Jehangir Wadia.[4]

In 2004, Wadia accompanied his mother Dina and sons Ness and Jeh, on a visit to Pakistan, during which he visited the mausoleum of his grandfather Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and grandaunt Fatima Jinnah in Karachi.[5]

Career

In 1962, Nusli entered Bombay Dyeing as a trainee in the spring mills. In 1970, Nusli was appointed managing joint director. In 1971, Nusli learned that his father was planning to sell the company to R. P. Goenka and move abroad. Nusli was only 26 at the time and had his own ambitions to run the company. With the help of his mother, sister, friends, and his mentor J.R.D Tata he began garnering 11 per cent of the company shares and went on to persuade the employees to pool their savings and buy shares to prevent the sale. Nusli then flew down to London where his father was making the deal, and convinced him not to sell the company or emigrate. In 1977 Nusli succeeded his father as the chairman of the company.

In 2016, Wadia announced that he will be filing a defamation case against Ratan Tata and his Tata group, after being removed as the independent director of Tata Motors.[6] During the 2016–19 period, when the trial was ongoing, Wadia's net worth increased from US$3.5 billion to US$7 billion.[7] In January 2020, Wadia withdrew the defamation case, following Tata's statement that there was no intention to defame Wadia.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ "Nusli Neville Wadia Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  2. ^ "Nusli Wadia". Forbes. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  3. ^ Cover, Story (31 August 1989). "'Why should I be a threat?' - Interview with Nusli Wadia". India Today. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  4. ^ Singh, Rohini (13 July 2009). "I want to consolidate: Nusli Wadia". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
  5. ^ "Dina Wadia visits mausoleum of Quaid". DAWN.COM. 27 March 2004. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Nusli Wadia To Go Ahead With Defamation Cases Against Tatas". Businessworld. 1 December 2016. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019.
  7. ^ Soni, Preeti (15 January 2020). "Billionaire Nusli Wadia could be one of the rare men who battled Ambanis and Tatas and lived to tell the tale". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  8. ^ Sharma, Prathma (13 January 2020). "Nusli Wadia withdraws criminal defamation suit against Ratan Tata". Livemint. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  9. ^ Rautray, Samanwaya (14 January 2020). "Nusli Wadia to withdraw defamation cases against Ratan Tata". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
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