With his appointment as the chief executive of coffee giant Starbucks, Laxman Narasimhan joins a growing list of Indian-origin CEOs at the helm of some of the biggest companies in the US.
The 55-year-old veteran in leading and advising global consumer-facing brands was previously the CEO of UK-based Reckitt Benckiser, a multinational consumer health, hygiene and nutrition company.
Here is a list of top Indian-origin CEOs:
1. Sundar Pichai – CEO, Google LLC & Alphabet Inc The Madurai-born, 47-year-old IIT Kharagpur graduate started his career with Google in 2004 and rose to the position of CEO in 2015. He was eventually appointed the CEO of Alphabet Inc, the parent company of Google, in December 2019.
2. Satya Nadella – CEO, Microsoft Once responsible for building and running Microsoft’s computing platforms, Hyderabad-born Satya Nadella became the CEO of Microsoft, succeeding Steve Ballmer in 2014. A BE from Manipal Institute of Technology, MS from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, he also succeeded John W Thompson to become the Chairman of Microsoft in 2021.
3. Parag Agrawal – CEO, Twitter After Twitter’s CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from his role, IIT-Bombay graduate Parag Agrawal was named the chief executive of the firm in November 2021.
4. Leena Nair, Chanel An alumnus of XLRI, Jamshedpur, Leena Nair was appointed as the Chief Human Resource Officer of Unilever in 2016, before taking over as the CEO of the iconic French fashion brand Chanel in January 2022.
5. Arvind Krishna – CEO, IBM Group An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Arvind Krishna has been with IBM for over two decades. He replaced Virginia Rometty as CEO of the IBM Group in January 2020.
6. Shantanu Narayen – CEO, Adobe Inc Born in Hyderabad, Shantanu Narayen started his career at Apple and joined Adobe in 1998. He got promoted to CEO in December 2007 at the age of 45. 7. Ajaypal Singh Banga – CEO, Mastercard Born to retired Indian Lieutenant General Harbhajan Singh Banga, Ajay began his business career with Nestlé in 1981 and joined Mastercard in the 1990s. He was appointed President and CEO of Mastercard in July 2010 and remained in office till December 31, 2020.
8. Jayshree Ullal – CEO, Arista Networks Born in London and raised in New Delhi, Jayshree Ullal is the CEO of Arista Networks since 2008. 9. Rajeev Suri – CEO, Nokia Inc Born in New Delhi and raised in Kuwait, Rajeev Suri was named the CEO of Nokia Inc in April 2014. In 2020, he gave way to its new CEO, Pekka Lundmark, and joined Inmarsat as CEO effective from March 1, 2021.
10. George Curian – CEO, NetApp Born in Kottayam district of Kerala and educated at IIT Madras, George Curian became the Chairman and CEO of NetApp in June 2015.
