Meet MD of Rs 11,477 crore company, not from IIM or IIT

There are many stories about top companies with their CEO or MD from prestigious IIM institutes. However, alumni of several other premier colleges are also heading some leading companies in India. One such person is Rajiv Rajgopal, who is the Managing Director of AkzoNobel India.

The company manufactures and markets paints, coatings and speciality chemicals. Dulux (Paint) is the most popular brand of its decorative coatings business. Rajgopal took charge as MD in November 2018. He joined AkzoNobel in 2013 as Head of Sales and Marketing, Decorative Paints, AkzoNobel India. The company has a market capitalisation of  Rs 11,477 crore as of September 22, 2023. The share price of the company was Rs 2,521.95 on Friday.

Prior to joining AkzoNobel India, Rajiv was the CEO of Broadband and Data at Bharti Airtel Limited. He has also worked with organizations such as Hindustan Unilever and BP/Castrol India primarily in Sales, Marketing and Business Leadership roles.

In 2014, he was appointed General Manager in India of AkzoNobel. Rajiv was appointed as the Regional Director, Performance Coatings, Middle East and Africa in January 2017 and has served on the Boards of several AkzoNobel group companies in the Middle East and Africa.

Rajiv holds an engineering degree from the University of Mumbai. He also did a Master in Management Studies (Marketing) from SP Jain, Mumbai. He has attended programs at INSEAD Singapore and Harvard Business School and Centre for Creative Leadership.

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