Kumar Mangalam Birla: Chairman of Aditya Birla Group

Megha Rani

Jan 31, 2021 — 5 min read

Kumar Mangalam Birla is an Indian businessperson who is serving as the Chairman of Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Idea Limited. He is the chancellor of the Birla Institute of technology & Science. He also serves as the Chairman of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, and Rhodes India Scholarship Committee for Oxford University. He is is an honorary fellow of London Business School and serves on its Asia Pacific Advisory Board. As of January 2021, he has an estimated net worth of $10 billion.

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Biography

Name	Kumar Mangalam Birla
Born	14 June, 1967
Birthplace	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Age	54 (2021)
Nationality	Indian
Education	University of Bombay; Institute of Chartered Accountants of India; London Business School
Profession	Businessperson
Position	Chairman of Aditya Birla Group and Vodafone Idea Limited
Net worth	$10 billion (January 2021)
Father	Aditya Vikram Birla
Marital Status	Married (1989)
Spouse	Neerja Birla
Children	3
Daughter	Ananya Birla
Son	Aryaman Birla

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Personal Life
Kumar Mangalam Birla- Education
Kumar Mangalam Birla- Professional Life
Kumar Mangalam Birla- Aditya Birla Group
Kumar Mangalam Birla- Vodafone Idea Limited
Kumar Mangalam Birla- Controversies
Kumar Mangalam Birla- Honors & Awards

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Personal Life

Kumar was born to a Marwari family in Kolkata and raised in Mumbai. He is a fourth-generation member of the Birla family. His father, Aditya Birla was the former chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. The Birla family is running the business since 1857.

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Education

Kumar attended his high school from Syndenham College of Commerce and Economics. He received his bachelor's degree from H.R. College of Commerce and Economics of the University of Bombay.

He further pursued Masters of Business Administration (MBA) from London Business School, from where he has been conferred as the honorary fellow. He is also Chartered Accountant from Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Professional Life

At age 28, Kumar sat at the position of the Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, after the death of his father in 1995. He has been reaping the company through his exceptional guidance and experience. He is also serving as the Chairman of Vodafone Idea Limited, an Indian telecom operator.

His net worth reduced to $6 billion between the year 2017 and 2019, he reportedly lost $3.1 billion. The foremost reason for this loss is "financial distress" that Vodafone Idea Limited has experienced during the steep decline in the shares of flagship companies that produce chemicals, metals and cement.

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Aditya Birla Group

Kumar is serving as the Chairman of Aditya Birla Group since 1995. The company is headquartered in Worli, Maharashtra, India. Under the leadership of Kumar, the company has experienced an increase in its annual turnover from $3.33 billion in 1995 to $48.3 billion in 2019.

The Birla family is inheriting the business since 1857, founded by Seth Shiv Narayan Birla. The Indian multinational conglomerate operates in 34 countries with more than 120,000 employees across diverse sectors including, agri, carbon black, cement, chemicals, finance, mining, metals, retail, pulp & fibre, telecommunications and textile.

| Subsidiaries of Aditya Birla Group |
|---|---|
| UltraTech cement |
| Grasim Industries |
| Vodafone Idea |
| Hindalco Industries |
| Aditya birla Fashion and Retail |
| Birla Sun Life Asset Management |
| Domsjo Fabriker |

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Vodafone Idea Limited

Kumar is serving as the Chairman of Vodafone Idea Limited (VI), headquartered in Mumbai and Gandhinagar. It is an Indian telecom operator and a subsidiary of Aditya Birla Group. As of 2020, Vodafone holds a 45% stake in VI and Aditya Birla Group holds a 26% stake.

As of November 2020, Vodafone Idea has a subscriber base of 289.9 million and thus became third largest mobile telecommunications network in India and sixth largest mobile telecommunications network in the world.

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Controversies

Kumar's name was once dragged into an infamous political scandal called Indian coal allocation scam that trailed its origin to the illegal allocation of coal blocks between 2004 and 2009. In 2013, the CBI accused him of influencing the coal security then in getting the block for Hindalco, when it was only allocated to public sector, Neyveli Lignite and Mahanadi Coalfields in 2005.

Eventually, Kumar met Parekh and he helped him out as the prompt decision of the screening committee inverted and Hindalco was affixed along with the two. However, there was a sharp fall in the shares of Birla's companies. Hindalco lost 5% before recovering. The CBI filed closure report against Birla in 2014.

Kumar Mangalam Birla- Honors & Awards

Kumar received the International Advertising Association's CEO of the Year Award in 2016.
He received the US India Business Council's Global Leadership Award in 2014.
Economic Times gave him the Business Leader Award in 2003 and 2013.
At Forbes India Leadership Award, he received Flagship Award Entrepreneur of the Year 2012
At NDTV Profit Business Leadership Awards 2012, he was named the Most Inspiring Leader
CNBCTV18 IBLA conferred him as Business Leader for taking India Abroad 2012
He also received the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year Award 2010
He was credited with JRD Tata Leadership Award 2008
He was named NDTV's Global Indian Leader of the Year 2007