Nadir Burjorji Godrej (born 1951) is an Indian chemical engineer,

industrialist A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

and member of the

Godrej family The Godrej family is an Indian Parsi family that manages and largely owns the Godrej Group of company- a conglomerate founded by Ardeshir Godrej and his brother Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej in 1897. It spans sectors as diverse as real estate, consu ...

. He is managing director of

Godrej Industries Godrej Industries Limited is a holding company of the Godrej Group. The company has its headquarters in Mumbai, India. Division Godrej Industries has the following divisions; * Godrej Chemicals * Godrej Agrovet *Godrej Consumer Products *Godre ...

, one of India's biggest businesses, and as chairman of

Godrej Agrovet Godrej Agrovet Limited is an Indian company which operates in the animal feed and agribusiness sectors. The company, which is part of the highly diversified Godrej Group, had a turnover of around Rs. 3100 Cr (Rs. 31 billion) in FY 2012–13. ...

Background and personal life

Godrej was born the younger son of Burjorji Godrej by his wife Jaiben Godrej. Burjorji was the nephew of Ardeshir Godrej, founder of the

Godrej group Godrej Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, which is managed and largely owned by the Godrej family. It was founded by Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej in 1897, and operates in sectors including ...

of industries. Since Ardeshir was childless, the vast industrial estate created by Ardeshir was inherited by three nephews. The family belongs to the

Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...

community and follows the (

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

) religion. The Godrej family has been settled in

Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

for over two centuries. After studying in

IIT Bombay The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay or IITB) is a public research university and technical institute in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. It is considered as one of the best engineering universities in India and is top ranked ...

for 1 year Nadir Godrej transferred to MIT and earned his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials int ...

and a

Master of Science in Engineering A Master of Science in Engineering (abbreviated MSE, M.Sc.Eng. or MScEng) is a type of Master of Science awarded by universities in many countries. It is an academic degree to be differentiated from a Master of Engineering. A Master of Science in ...

from

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

. Then he earned his

Masters in Business Administration A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

. Nadir Godrej has one older brother,

Adi Godrej Adi Burjorji Godrej (born 3 April 1942) is an Indian billionaire businessman and industrialist, head of the Godrej family, and chairman of the Godrej Group. , he has a net worth of US$2.3 billion. Early life Godrej completed his schooling at ...

, who is the chairman of the

Godrej Group Godrej Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, which is managed and largely owned by the Godrej family. It was founded by Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha Burjorji Godrej in 1897, and operates in sectors including ...

. He is a first cousin of

Jamshyd Godrej Jamshyd Naoroji Godrej is an Indian industrialist and member of the Godrej family, currently serving as managing director and chairman of Godrej & Boyce, the holding company of the Godrej group. Godrej & Boyce is a diversified business with ...

, chairman and managing director of

Godrej & Boyce Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co. Ltd. (G&B) is the flagship company of the Godrej Group. Established in 1897 in Mumbai, India, G&B is a privately held company with a presence across 10 industries – from building complex and custom engineering solution ...

, another major family firm. Nadir Godrej is married to Dr. Rati Godrej. The couple have three sons, Burjis (b. 1992), Sohrab (b. 1994) and Hormusji (b. 1996). They live in Mumbai.

Career

Godrej currently serves as managing director of

, one of India's biggest businesses, and as chairman of

. These are two of the major companies run by his family. Apart from holding positions of responsibility in his own family's companies, Godrej also sits as an independent director on the boards of several non-group companies. As of 2016, these include

Mahindra & Mahindra Mahindra & Mahindra Limited (M&M) is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing corporation headquartered in Mumbai. It was established in 1945 as Mahindra & Mohammed and later renamed as Mahindra & Mahindra. Part of the Mahindra Group, ...

Tata Teleservices Tata Tele Business Services Limited (TTBSL), formally known as Tata Tele Services Limited (TTSL), is an Indian broadband, telecommunications and cloud service provider based in Mumbai. It is a subsidiary of the Tata Group, an Indian conglome ...

, and

Taj Hotels Taj Hotels is a chain of luxury hotels and a subsidiary of the Indian Hotels Company Limited, headquartered in Mumbai, India. Incorporated by Jamsetji Tata in 1902, the company is a part of the Tata Group, one of India's largest business conglom ...

. He is also on the

board of advisors An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...

of India's International Movement to Unite Nations (I.I.M.U.N.). In 2013 he made an undisclosed angel investment in an Indian

social networking service A social networking service or SNS (sometimes called a social networking site) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career content, interests, act ...

, LocalCircles.

Awards

*Exemplary industrialist award.

Interests

Godrej speaks six languages, including Russian and French. He is known for his fondness of poetry and mathematics. He is also a published

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. Godrej is also a part of the

advisory board An advisory board is a body that provides non-binding strategic advice to the management of a corporation, organization, or foundation. The informal nature of an advisory board gives greater flexibility in structure and management compared to th ...

IIMUN I.I.M.U.N. (India's International Movement to Unite Nations, also known as: Indian International Model United Nations or IIMUN) is a youth organisation comprising 26,000 young organisers who put together student conferences in 220 cities and 35 co ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Godrej, Nadir Businesspeople from Mumbai Parsi people from Mumbai Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Harvard Business School alumni Godrej Group Stanford University alumni 1951 births Living people Godrej family