Former Mahindra Group Chairman Keshub Mahindra passed away on Wednesday at the age of 99, as confirmed by INSPACe chairman Pawan K Goenka on Twitter. Born in 1923, Keshub Mahindra served as the chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra from 1963 to 2012. He then retired from the post and assumed the position of the group’s Chairman Emeritus. Currently, the Mahindra Group is led by Keshub Mahindra’s nephew Anand Mahindra as the Chairman.
Earlier today, INSPACe chairman Pawan K Goenka tweeted, “The industrial world has lost one of the tallest personalities today. Shri Keshub Mahindra had no match; the nicest person I had the privilege of knowing. I always looked forward to mtgs with him and inspired by how he connected business, economics and social matters. Om Shanti.”
Keshub Mahindra died just days after Forbes list of India’s Richest Billionaires for 2023 released its report and announced Mahindra as the oldest Indian billionaire, with a net worth of $1.2 billion. He had joined the board of the company in 1948 and was later elected as the chairman in 1963.
Mahindra & Mahindra was formed as Mahindra and Mohammad in 1945 by Kailash Chandra Mahindra and his brother Kailash Chandra Mahindra (Keshub’s father) as a steel trading company. Two years later, in 1947, Mohammed divested his stake in the company and moved to Pakistan. Keshub Mahindra joined Mahindra and Mahindra in 1947. While Keshub Mahindra retired as the chairman of Mahindra Group in 2012, during his 28 years of heading the company at the helm, it expanded from being an automobile manufacturer to other businesses like IT, real estate, financial services and hospitality, with a market capitalization of Rs 53,000 crore at the end of his tenure.
Mahindra group, in its early years, was mainly involved in manufacturing of the iconic Willys Jeeps. Keshub Mahindra had a knack of forming joint ventures; he had played key roles in forming business alliances with companies such as Willys Corporation, Mitsubishi, International Harvester, United Technologies, British Telecom and others. Today, Mahindra & Mahindra is a diversified group with a market capitalisation of Rs 1.5 lakh crore.
Keshub Mahindra’s management of Mahindra group
Keshub Mahindra is known to have not been involved in micromanagement and he always had his eyes on the big picture. Mahindra is also not known to be much of a public speaker and granted very few interviews. His only public speaking platform used to be the annual general meetings at Mahindra & Mahindra and his last AGM was in August 2012, after which he retired.
An alumnus of Wharton, University of Pennsylvania, Keshub Mahindra was even chosen to be a part of several committees including the Sachar Commission on Company Law & MRTP and the Central Advisory Council of Industries, by the central government. He had served as a member of the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry for six years, from 2004 to 2010.
According to the company website, Keshub Mahindra was also a member of the Apex Advisory Council of ASSOCHAM and the President Emeritus of the Employers’ Federation of India, an honorary fellow of the All India Management Association, New Delhi and a member of the Council of the United World Colleges (International) in the United Kingdom.
He has also served as a member on several boards and councils in both the private and public domain, including SAIL, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Indian Hotels, IFC and ICICI. He was also the founder chairman of HUDCO (Housing and Urban Development Corporation Limited); vice-chairman of Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd; chairman Mahindra Ugine Steel Co. Ltd; director of Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. Ltd. and Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited, the company confirmed.