1. Shri Thanedar is an American businessman, author, and politician serving as the US representative from Michigan's 13th congressional district since 2023.
33 Facts About Shri Thanedar
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Shri Thanedar was a candidate in the Democratic primary for Governor of Michigan in the 2018 election.
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Shri Thanedar grew up in a low income family in Belgaum, Karnataka, India.
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When his father was forced to retire at age 55, the 14-year-old Shri Thanedar worked odd jobs to support his family of eight.
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Shri Thanedar earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at 18 and then attended a master's program at the University of Mumbai.
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Shri Thanedar came to the US in 1979 to pursue a PhD at the University of Akron, which he completed in 1982.
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Shri Thanedar did post-doctoral work at the University of Michigan before taking a job in 1984 as a researcher at Petrolite Corp.
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In 1984, Shri Thanedar started working at Petrolite in St Louis.
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Shri Thanedar took out a loan to buy Chemir in 1991 for $75,000.
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Shri Thanedar borrowed $24 million from Bank of America to finance seven acquisitions, offering the bank a personal guarantee to back the debt.
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Shri Thanedar built a mansion in Ladue, Missouri with an in-home theater to accommodate 150 people.
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In 2007, Shri Thanedar was offered $132 million to sell Azopharma.
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Shri Thanedar briefly retired in 2010, then came out of retirement later that year to launch Avomeen Analytical Services, an Ann Arbor-based chemical testing laboratory, with his son Neil.
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In 2016, Shri Thanedar sold a majority stake in the business to private equity firm High Street Capital.
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Shri Thanedar shared $1.5 million of the proceeds with his 50 employees.
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In November 2017, a buyer of Avomeen Holdings LLC filed a lawsuit in the US District Court in Detroit, claiming Shri Thanedar made "fraudulent and misleading representations" of his company's finances in order to sell the majority stake in November 2016.
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Shri Thanedar denies the allegations, saying that revenues "are anticipated to significantly exceed" those of past periods.
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Shri Thanedar entered politics when he ran in the 2018 Michigan gubernatorial election as a Democrat.
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Shri Thanedar pledged not to accept any corporate political action committee donations.
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Shri Thanedar contributed $10.6 million of his own money to his campaign.
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Shri Thanedar had not held elective office before running for governor in 2017, so he did not have an official record as a Democrat.
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Shri Thanedar denied the claims, saying that these strategists were criticizing him because he did not hire their firms.
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Shri Thanedar faced allegations that laboratory animals were abandoned at one of his former research facilities after Bank of America placed that business into receivership in 2010, which he denied.
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Shri Thanedar's support was heavily concentrated in cities like Detroit, Flint, Inkster, and Pontiac with high African American populations.
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Shri Thanedar's campaign had spent more money than any other candidate's in either the Democratic or Republican gubernatorial primary.
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On November 3,2020, Shri Thanedar was elected to the state house.
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Shri Thanedar previously co-sponsored a resolution to halt aid to Israel, describing it as an Apartheid state, in Michigan House of Representatives.
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In 2022, Shri Thanedar gave up his state house seat and moved from Ann Arbor to the Palmer Woods neighborhood to run for Michigan's 13th congressional district.
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Shri Thanedar contributed $5.17 million of his own money to the campaign.
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Early in his House tenure, Shri Thanedar attempted to join the Congressional Black Caucus.
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In September 2023, Shri Thanedar formally launched the Dharma Caucus, stating bipartisan support and 27 lawmakers joining as members from across 4 faiths.
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Shri Thanedar married his first wife, Shamal, a neurologist in 1984.
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In 2008, Shri Thanedar self-published his memoirs in English, The Blue Suitcase: Tragedy and Triumph in an Immigrant's Life.