Nusli Wadia (born 15 February 1944) is an Indian billionaire businessman and the chairman of the

Wadia Group Wadia Group is an Indian multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate, headquartered in Mumbai. It was founded by Lovji Nusserwanjee Wadia in 1736 and is the List of oldest companies in India, oldest company in ...

, an Indian conglomerate involved in the

FMCG Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG), are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, cand ...

, textiles and real estate industries among others. His

net worth Net worth is the value of all the non-financial and financial assets owned by an individual or institution minus the value of all its outstanding liabilities. Since financial assets minus outstanding liabilities equal net financial assets, net ...

was estimated at US$4.1 billion by

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

in August 2021.

Personal life

Nusli was born into the prominent

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 ...

Wadia family The Wadia family is a Parsi family from Surat, India currently based in Mumbai, India. The family rose to wealth in the mid-1700s as ship-builders serving the British East India Company as the latter established its sway over India. During th ...

Bombay 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- ...

. He is the son of businessman

Neville Wadia Neville Ness Wadia (22 August 1911 – 31 July 1996) was a British businessman, philanthropist and a member of the Wadia family, an old Parsi family which, by the 1840s, was one of the leading forces in the Indian shipbuilding industry. Wa ...

and

Dina Wadia Dina Wadia (born Dina Jinnah; 15 August 19192 November 2017) was the daughter of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founding father of Pakistan and Rattanbai Petit. She belonged to the prominent Jinnah family through her father, the Petit f ...

. His paternal grandfather Sir Ness Wadia was a well known textile industrialist and 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, while his paternal grandmother was Lady Evelyne Clara Powell Wadia. His maternal grandfather

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

was the founder of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

, while, his maternal grandmother,

Rattanbai Petit Rattanbai Jinnah (''née'' Petit; 20 February 1900 – 20 February 1929), also known as Ruttie Jinnah, was the wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, an important figure in the creation of Pakistan and the country's founder. Additionally, Rattanbai Petit ...

was born into one of the elite Parsi families of India, the

Petit Petite or petite may refer to: *Petit (crater), a small, bowl-shaped lunar crater on Mare Spumans * ''Petit'' (EP), a 1995 EP by Japanese singer-songwriter Ua * Petit (typography), another name for brevier-size type *Petit four * Petit Gâteau *P ...

. He once held a British citizenship for sometime by descent as his father had been born in the UK. Wadia was educated at

Cathedral and John Connon School The Cathedral & John Connon School is a co-educational private school founded in 1860 and located in Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra.Rugby School Rugby School is a public school (English independent boarding school for pupils aged 13–18) in Rugby, Warwickshire, England. Founded in 1567 as a free grammar school for local boys, it is one of the oldest independent schools in Britain. Up ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He later went to the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

and earned a PhD in

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 ...

. He is married to Maureen Wadia, a former

air hostess A flight attendant, also known as steward/stewardess or air host/air hostess, is a member of the aircrew aboard commercial flights, many business jets and some government aircraft. Collectively called cabin crew, flight attendants are primar ...

, who heads ''Gladrags'' magazine and is one of the organizers of Mrs. India beauty pageant. They have two sons:

Ness Wadia Ness Nusli Wadia (born 30 May 1971) is an Indian businessman. Part of the Wadia family, Wadia is the managing director of Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, a company which has holdings in most of the Wadia Group subsidiaries, including an indi ...

and

Jehangir Wadia Jehangir Nusli Wadia (born 6 July 1973), also known as Jeh Wadia, is an Indian businessman, who was the Managing Director of Go First, Bombay Dyeing and Bombay Realty. He was also a Director on the Boards of Britannia Industries, The Bombay Burma ...

. In 2004, Wadia accompanied his mother Dina and sons Ness and Jeh, on a visit to

, during which he visited the mausoleum of his grandfather Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and grandaunt

Fatima Jinnah Fatima Jinnah ( ur, ; 31 July 1893 – 9 July 1967), widely known as Māder-e Millat ("Mother of the Nation"), was a Pakistani stateswoman, politician, dental surgeon and one of the leading founders of Pakistan. She was the younger sister of ...

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

Career

In 1962, Nusli entered

Bombay Dyeing Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Company Limited is the flagship company of the Wadia Group, engaged primarily in the business of Textiles. Bombay Dyeing is one of India's largest producers of textiles. Its current chairman is Nusli Wadia. In Marc ...

as a trainee in the spring mills. In 1970, Nusli was appointed managing joint director. In 1971, Nusli learned that his father was planning to sell the company to

R. P. Goenka Rama Prasad Goenka (1 March 1930 – 14 April 2013) was the founder and chairman Emeritus of the RPG Group, a multi-sector Indian industrial conglomerate. Born in 1930, he was the eldest son of Keshav Prasad Goenka and grandson of Sir Badri ...

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 ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given childbirth, birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the cas ...

, sister, friends, and his mentor

J.R.D Tata Jehangir Ratanji Dadabhoy Tata (29 July 1904 – 29 November 1993) was a French-Indian aviator, industrialist, entrepreneur and chairman of Tata Group. Born into the Tata family of India, he was the son of noted businessman Ratanji Dadabho ...

he began garnering 11 per cent of the company shares and went on to persuade the employees to pool their savings and buy shares to prevent the sale. Nusli then flew down to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

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 will be filing a defamation case against

Ratan Tata Ratan Naval Tata, GBE (born 28 December 1937) is an Indian industrialist and former chairman of Tata Sons. He was also the chairman of the Tata Group from 1990 to 2012, serving also as interim chairman from October 2016 through February 2017. ...

and his

Tata group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest conglomerate, with products and services in over 150 countries, and operations in 100 countries across six continent ...

, after being removed as the independent director of

Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses. Formerly known as Tata En ...

. During the 2016–19 period, when the trial was ongoing, Wadia's net worth increased from to . In January 2020, Wadia withdrew the defamation case, following Tata's statement that there was no intention to defame Wadia.

References

External links

Bombay Dyeing website

Wadia Group website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadia, Nusli Living people 1944 births Indian businesspeople in textiles Indian chief executives Indian billionaires Parsi people from Mumbai Businesspeople from Mumbai Wadia family