Adi Burjorji Godrej, the patriarch of the Godrej family and the chairman of the Godrej Group, was born in 1942 and is a multibillionaire businessman and entrepreneur from India. He will have a net worth of US$2.3 billion as of October 2020. Godrej finished his education at St. Xavier's High School before spending two years at St. Xavier's College in Mumbai. He received his bachelor's degree from HL College and his MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management, where he was also a member of Tau Beta Pi and the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity.
Career
He joined the family company after he got back to India. He improved the processes and updated the management structure. During the Licence Raj, Adi Godrej led the Godrej Group to tremendous heights. Along with his brother Nadir Godrej, managing director of Godrej Industries and chairman of Godrej Agrovet, and his cousin Jamshyd Godrej, managing director and chairman of Godrej & Boyce, he serves as group leader.
He made intentions to leave his position as chairman of Godrej Industries Ltd, the holding company for the Godrej Group, in 2021. He would continue to hold the positions as Chairman Emeritus of GIL and Chairman of the Godrej Group. Under his leadership, Godrej Consumer Products has developed into a powerful FMCG player in emerging countries based on a 3X3 approach to global development – establishing a footprint across three categories (home care, personal wash, and hair care) in three emerging regions (Asia, Africa, and Latin America).
The Godrej Effect
Several Indian trade and industry groups and associations have had him as their president.
He served as the Indian School of Business's chairman from April 2011 to April 2018 and was chosen to lead the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in the 2012–2013 fiscal year. He has served as the head of the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies' board of governors and a member of the dean's advisory council at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
Private Life
He has three children and was married to socialite and philanthropist Parmeshwar Godrej till her death in October 2016. They are locals of South Mumbai's Malabar Hill.