Ajay Banga succeeds David Malpass as the World Bank's new chief on Friday. He will be the first person of Indian origin at the helm of the Washington-headquartered global lender.
Before his ascension to the World Bank's top chair, Banga served as General Atlantic's vice chairman.
The 63-year-old was previously the chief executive officer of Mastercard, the world's second-largest payment processing company, for 10 years from 2010 to 2020.
Before his ascension to the World Bank's top chair, Banga served as General Atlantic's vice chairman.
The 63-year-old was previously the chief executive officer of Mastercard, the world's second-largest payment processing company, for 10 years from 2010 to 2020.
All You Need to Know About Banga
Banga began his career at Nestle SA in 1981, starting a 13-year stint with the food and beverage major and working in various departments in the corporation, including marketing and sales, before moving to management positions.
Here's a quick look at his career:
Born in the cantonment city of Pune in India's Maharashtra state, Banga is a son of an Indian Army officer.
The Delhi University alumnus completed his Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the prestigious Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, widely regarded as the numero uno business school in India.
Among the coveted honors, the Indian government has conferred on Banga is the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan, and the Padma Bhushan
After spending over a decade at Nestle, Banga began working for soft drinks behemoth PepsiCo, successfully guiding the company in launching its fast-food business, comprising the popular 'Lays' chips in India.
Following his brief stay with PepsiCo, Banga joined Citigroup in 1996 before gradually rising to become the business chief of its American consumer-assets division and CitiFinancial within four years.
Subsequently, Citigroup named him as the head of international consumer operations five years later in 2005.
Banga spent three more years at Citi Bank before stepping down from his post as the head of its Asia-Pacific operations in 2008. Next year, he joined Mastercard as president and CEO.