29 Facts About Ajay Banga

Ajaypal Singh "Ajay" Banga was born on November 10,1959 and is an Indian American business executive.

Ajay Banga is the president of the World Bank Group.

Ajay Banga was the executive chairman of Mastercard, after having previously been president and chief executive officer of the company from July 2010 until December 31,2020.

Ajay Banga retired from this position on December 31,2021, and joined General Atlantic as its vice chairman.

Ajay Banga was elected President of the World Bank on May 3,2023, having been nominated to the position in February 2023 by the Biden administration.

Ajay Banga was born on November 10,1959, into a Punjabi Sikh Saini family, in Khadki, Bombay State, where his father, an army officer, was posted.

Ajay Banga was educated at the St Edward's School, in the Milsington Estate of Shimla, Himachal Pradesh and at the Hyderabad Public School in Begumpet.

Ajay Banga went on to graduate with a bachelor's degree in economics from the St Stephen's College of the University of Delhi, subsequently earning his Post graduate program in management from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

Ajay Banga later joined PepsiCo and was involved in the launch of its international fast food franchises, including Pizza Hut and KFC, in India as the economy liberalized.

In 1996, Ajay Banga joined Citigroup, where he briefly worked as a debt collector as part of his training.

Ajay Banga headed up CitiFinancial and the US Consumer Assets Division from 2000 to 2002 From 2005 to 2008 he was chief executive of Citi's International Global Consumer Group, which included all credit card and consumer banking operations outside of North America.

In 2008, Ajay Banga became chief executive of the bank's Asia-Pacific business, and splitting time between New York and Hong Kong.

Ajay Banga received about $10 million in compensation in 2008 from Citigroup, making him one of the firm's highest paid executives that year.

In 2020 Ajay Banga was elected chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce succeeding Paul Polman.

Ajay Banga previously was ICC's First Vice-Chair since June 2018.

On January 1,2022, Ajay Banga assumed responsibilities at General Atlantic as vice chairman.

Ajay Banga stepped down in May 2023, following his appointment to the World Bank.

Since the 2020 elections, Ajay Banga has been an outside adviser to Vice President Kamala Harris as chairman of the Partnership for Central America where he has led a group of business leaders who have advised her on the administration's work in El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras.

On February 23,2023, Ajay Banga was nominated by President Biden to lead the World Bank.

Ajay Banga was the keynote speaker at the NYU Stern 2014 Graduate Convocation on May 22,2014, where he spoke about the importance of diversity in driving innovation and leadership.

Ajay Banga was a keynote speaker for his alma mater, the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, during the Class of 2015's convocation.

Ajay Banga is a regular speaker at various FinTech conferences and various leadership conferences.

Ajay Banga appeared on the Mad Money show hosted by Jim Cramer on Thursday, November 6,2014.

In 2023, Ajay Banga was named by Carnegie Corporation of New York as an honoree of the Great Immigrants Awards.

In 2023, Ajay Banga was included in the "Time100 Climate" person list by Time Magazine.

In 2024, Ajay Banga was included in the Times 100 Most Influential People by the Time Magazine.

Ajay Banga praised the New Delhi Declaration, stating that it was a "job well done by India" and expressed satisfaction with the sections of the declaration that discussed the reform of multilateral banks.

Ajay Banga spoke about the changing global challenges, including pandemics and climate change, and how they have impacted the World Bank's mission.

Ajay Banga's younger daughter, Jyotika, holds a BA and MBA from Harvard University and is a vice president at Clear Secure.