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Nusli Wadia

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Nusli Wadia
Born (1944-02-15) 15 February 1944 (age 80)
Bombay, British India
OccupationBusinessman
SpouseMaureen Wadia
Children2 (Ness and Jeh)
Parents
Family

Nusli Neville Wadia (born 15 February 1944) is an Indian billionaire businessman and the chairman of the Wadia Group, an Indian conglomerate involved in the FMCG, textiles, and real estate industries, among others.[1] His net worth was estimated at US$4.4 billion by Forbes in August 2024.[2]

As per Forbes list of India’s 100 richest tycoons, dated OCTOBER 09, 2024, Nusli Wadia is ranked 44th with a net worth of $6.7 Billion.[3]

Wadia, along with his sons, are the direct and only living descendants of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan.

Early life and background

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Nusli was born in Bombay to businessman Neville Wadia and Dina Wadia. On his paternal side he belongs to the prominent Parsi Wadia family; while belonging to the Jinnah family, of Gujarati Muslim background, on his maternal side.

His maternal grandfather Muhammad Ali Jinnah was the founder of Pakistan, and his grandmother, Rattanbai Petit was born into the elite Parsi family of India. His paternal grandfather, Sir Ness Wadia was a well-known textile industrialist, who played an important role during the late 19th century in turning the city of Bombay into one of the world's largest cotton trading centers. His paternal grandmother was an Englishwoman, Evelyne Clara Powell, from Yorkshire. His great-aunt was the politician and stateswoman Fatima Jinnah. His paternal aunt Clara Evelyne Wadia was married to Robert Byng, 7th Earl of Strafford. Through his parents' families, he is related to several of subcontinent’s political figures and business people.

For some time, Wadia held British citizenship by descent, as his father had been born in the UK. Wadia was educated at Cathedral and John Connon School. He was also educated at the Rugby School in England. He later went to study in the United States, earning a PhD in chemical engineering at the University of Florida.[4]

Career

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In 1962, Nusli entered Bombay Dyeing as a trainee in the spring mills. In 1970, Nusli was appointed joint managing director. In 1971, Nusli learned that his father was planning to sell the company to R. P. Goenka and move abroad. Nusli was only 26 at the time and had his own ambitions to run the company. With the help of his mother, sister, friends, and mentor J.R.D Tata he acquired 11 per cent of the company's shares and went on to persuade the employees to pool their savings and buy shares to prevent the sale. Nusli then flew to London where his father was making the deal, and convinced him not to sell the company or emigrate. In 1977, Nusli succeeded his father as the chairman of the company.

In 2016, Wadia announced that he would be filing a defamation case against Ratan Tata and his Tata group, after being removed as the independent director of Tata Motors.[5] During the 2016–19 period, when the trial was ongoing, Wadia's net worth increased from US$3.5 billion to US$7 billion.[6] In January 2020, Wadia withdrew the defamation case, following Tata's statement that there was no intention to defame Wadia.[7][8]

Personal life

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Wadia is married to Maureen Wadia, a former air hostess, who heads Gladrags magazine and is one of the organizers of the Mrs. India beauty pageant. They have two sons: Ness and Jehangir Wadia.[9]

In 2004, Wadia accompanied his mother, Dina, and sons, Ness and Jeh, on a visit to Pakistan, during which he visited the mausoleum of his grandfather, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and great-aunt Fatima Jinnah in Karachi.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "Nusli Neville Wadia Executive Profile & Biography". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2014.
  2. ^ "Nusli Wadia". Forbes. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
  3. ^ "India's 100 Richest". India’s 100 Richest. 9 October 2024.
  4. ^ Cover, Story (31 August 1989). "'Why should I be a threat?' - Interview with Nusli Wadia". India Today. Archived from the original on 29 November 2016. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
  5. ^ "Nusli Wadia To Go Ahead With Defamation Cases Against Tatas". Businessworld. 1 December 2016. Archived from the original on 6 July 2019.
  6. ^ Soni, Preeti (15 January 2020). "Billionaire Nusli Wadia could be one of the rare men who battled Ambanis and Tatas and lived to tell the tale". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 13 February 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  7. ^ Sharma, Prathma (13 January 2020). "Nusli Wadia withdraws criminal defamation suit against Ratan Tata". Livemint. Archived from the original on 14 January 2020. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  8. ^ Rautray, Samanwaya (14 January 2020). "Nusli Wadia to withdraw defamation cases against Ratan Tata". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 19 June 2020. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  9. ^ Singh, Rohini (13 July 2009). "I want to consolidate: Nusli Wadia". Economic Times. Archived from the original on 26 December 2018. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
  10. ^ "Dina Wadia visits mausoleum of Quaid". DAWN.COM. 27 March 2004. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 12 January 2018.
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