Uday Shankar (businessman)

Uday Shankar (pronounced: [U-dai Shun-kar] /ˈuːdeɪ ˈʃʌŋkər/, born September 16, 1961) is a media leader and entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and director of Bodhi Tree Systems, a strategic investment platform focused on consumer sectors in emerging markets. He also serves as vice chairman of JioStar, India's largest media and entertainment company, and chairman of ALLEN Career Institute, one of India's largest test preparation companies.

Variety featured Shankar in its annual Variety500 list of global entertainment business leaders, recognising a career spanning more than three decades across journalism, broadcasting, and digital media.

Shankar began his career as a journalist with the Times of India and worked with multiple publications before transitioning to television news. He was a founding member of the team that launched Aaj Tak, the country's first 24-hour Hindi news channel, where he played a central role in establishing its breaking news format. He subsequently led Star News, shifting its editorial direction toward in-depth interviews and regional-language programming.

In 2007, Shankar became CEO of Star India, becoming the first Indian journalist to head a major entertainment network. In a profile, McKinsey & Company described his leadership at Star India as having reshaped the Indian media and entertainment landscape. Star expanded from a primarily Hindi-language broadcaster into a diversified media and sports network with significant regional operations. He also led the company's early entry into digital streaming with the launch of Hotstar, at a time when limited connectivity and high data costs made the Indian market challenging for streaming services. The platform, combining entertainment,sports, and films, grew to become one of the largest mobile streaming services globally by user base.

Shankar's career then moved to the global stage. In 2017, he was appointed President of 21st Century Fox Asia. Following Disney's acquisition of Fox, he became President of The Walt Disney Company Asia Pacific, and launched Disney+ across the Asia Pacific region and Disney+ Hotstar in India.

Shankar has held leadership roles in Indian industry associations and policy bodies. In 2020, he became the first media executive elected President of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). He also served as President of the Indian Broadcasting Foundation (now the Indian Broadcasting and Digital Foundation), where he was involved in initiatives including the rollout of India's digital direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting infrastructure, the establishment of audience measurement systems, and the creation of a self-regulatory framework for content complaints.

Shankar sits on the boards of several Indian companies, including Kotak Mahindra Bank and GE Shipping, and supports social initiatives such as the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

He received the Forbes India Leadership Award for Best CEO (MNC) in 2015, the first media and entertainment executive to receive the honour, and in 2019 was ranked 15th on India Today's list of 50 Most Powerful People in India — the only media executive on the list.