5 Facts About Indian-Origin Ajay Banga, Next World Bank President

Ajaypal Singh Banga is currently serving as the Vice Chairman at General Atlantic. He earlier held the post of president and Chief Executive Officer of Mastercard for 11 years. The 63-year-old started his career at Nestle SA where he worked for over a decade in marketing, sales, and management roles.

Mr Banga is the son of an Indian Army officer and moved around the country during his childhood. He was born in the Khadki cantonment of Pune and did his graduation from Delhi University and MBA at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

After his stint at Nestle SA, Ajay Banga joined PepsiCo Inc and helped the company launch its fast-food franchise in India. In 1996, he started working for Citigroup and was made the business head of CitiFinancial and the US consumer-assets division within four years of joining. He was chosen to lead all of the bank's international consumer operations in 2005.

In 2008, Ajay Banga was named Citigroup's head of the Asia-Pacific region. He stepped down to join Mastercard as president and chief operating officer in 2009. Mastercard promoted Mr Banga to CEO in less than a year.

Ajay Banga was felicitated with the Padma Shri by the Indian government in 2016 in the field of trade and industry. He was also awarded the Foreign Policy Association Medal in 2012. He received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor and the Business Council for International Understanding's Global Leadership Award in 2019 and the Distinguished Friends of Singapore Public Service Star in 2021.