Ness Wadia

Ness Nusli Wadia (born 30 May 1971) is a British-Indian businessman. Part of the Wadia family, where his parents and several family members are all involved in business, he is the great-grandson of the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Wadia is the managing director of Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation, a company which has holdings in most of the Wadia Group subsidiaries, including an indirect majority stake in Britannia Industries.[1][2] He was the Joint Managing Director of Bombay Dyeing, the flagship company of the Wadia Group,[3][4] till March 2011 when he stepped down from the post. Wadia is a co-owner of the Indian Premier League cricket team Kings XI Punjab.

Ness Nusli Wadia
Wadia at the C.N. Wadia Cup in 2011
Born (1971-05-30) 30 May 1971
Liverpool, England
NationalityBritish
EducationThe Cathedral & John Connon School
Alma materUniversity of Warwick
OccupationBusinessman
Parent(s)Nusli Wadia (father)
Maureen Wadia (mother)
RelativesSee Wadia family

Early life
See also: Wadia family

Wadia was born into the Parsi Wadia family in Liverpool, England. His parents are businessman Nusli Wadia and former airhostess Maureen Wadia. He is the grandson of Neville Wadia and Dina Wadia, and the great grandson of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and his Parsi-born wife Rattanbai Petit; the later of whom was a part of the Petit—Tata family. Ness and his brother, Jehangir Wadia, are the direct and only descendants of Jinnah and his family, after their father.[5]

After completing his education at The Cathedral & John Connon School as well as Lawrence School in Himachal Pradesh, and then at Millfield School in the UK Wadia studied international relations at Tufts University near Boston, Massachusetts, and then went on to do his M.Sc in Engineering Management at University of Warwick.[3]

Career

Wadia joined Bombay Dyeing in 1993 as a Management Trainee. During his earlier period he was closely involved in marketing and retail distribution of the textile division of the company and was active in various organisations such as the Cotton Textiles Export Promotion Council (TEXPROCIL) (a council he once chaired), Mill Owners’ Association (MOA), Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India, etc.[6]

In 1998, he took a leave of absence to complete his master's degree in Science of Engineering Business Management from the University of Warwick with a thesis titled "Leading to Success in India". After receiving his master's degree in 2001, he returned as Deputy Managing Director of Bombay Dyeing and was later promoted to Joint Managing Director.[3] He was appointed to this position on 1 August 2001 and stayed till March 2011, when he stepped down, and younger brother Jehangir was made managing director. Ness was appointed Managing Director of Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation.[2]

In 1998, 1999 and 2000 he was appointed on the Prime Minister’s Council on Trade & Industry and in September 1998 was appointed the Convenor of the Special Group Task Force on Food and Agro Industries Management Policy in September, 1998.[6]

Wadia serves as director on the boards of group companies- Britannia Industries Ltd., Wadia BSN Ltd., and Nowrosjee Wadia & Sons Ltd.[6] He is also a director of Gherzi Eastern Ltd., Tata Iron & Steel, Tata Chemicals, and other companies and is also a member of the Managing Committee of the Nehru Centre in Mumbai.[6]

In 2008, along with actress Preity Zinta and businessman Mohit Burman, Wadia acquired ownership rights for the Mohali-based Twenty20 cricket team of the Indian Premier League (IPL).[7] The group paid $76 million to acquire the franchise, and named the team Kings XI Punjab.[8]

Board positions

Wadia has served as Managing Director of Bombay Burmah Trading Company Limited[9] He has been a trustee of Sir Ness Wadia Foundation, and other charitable trusts within the Wadia family, and a board member of Wadia Hospitals[10]

Personal life

Wadia dated Bollywood actress Preity Zinta from February 2005 until 2009, and the couple were subject to intense media scrutiny.[11][12][13][14] On 13 June 2014, Zinta filed a complaint with the Mumbai police against Wadia alleging he had attacked her at an IPL match at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on 30 May.[15][16] Wadia has denied the allegations.[17][18]

In March 2019, during a skiing holiday in Japan, Ness was convicted by a local court for a jail term of 2 years against the possession of drugs. He admitted to possessing the drugs and that they were for his own personal use. Though in a small quantity (about 25 gms of cannabis resin), the industrialist was sentenced for a 2 year jail term which was suspended by 5 years. After some time spent in detention, Wadia returned to India.[19]

References
  1. "Bombay Dyeing Management: Jeh elevated, Ness steps down". The Times of India. 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 27 May 2012. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
  2. "Wadia Group Re-shuffle". MoneyControl.com. 30 March 2011. Archived from the original on 8 April 2011. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
  3. "Preity Zinta, Ness Wadia, Karan Paul, Mohit Burman". The Times of India. 2 April 2008. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  4. "Promoters of Kings XI Punjab". Kings XI Punjab. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  5. "Ness Wadia: Photoshoot". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 9 February 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  6. "Bombay Dyeing & Manufacturing Co. Ltd. (BDYN:Bombay Stock Exchange)". Businessweek.com. Retrieved 10 May 2009.
  7. Bollywood Hungama News Network (24 January 2008). "King Khan, Preity Zinta bag teams in IPL bidding". indiaFM. Archived from the original on 3 May 2009. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  8. "Kings XI Punjab". kxip. Archived from the original on 2 April 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  9. "list of directors". bbtcl.com. Archived from the original on 24 July 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
  10. "Nowrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital". Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
  11. Shaikh, Jamal (3 February 2005). "Preity woman's man". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 10 November 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2009.
  12. Subhadeep Bhattacharjee (1 July 2009). "Preity heartbroken; Ness finds new love". Oneindia Entertainment. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  13. "Ness spotted with Delhi-based heiress Ayesha Thapar". Daily News and Analysis. 25 June 2009. Archived from the original on 12 November 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  14. "Preity's Ness Finds New Girl Friend: Ayesha Thaper". Zimbio. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 17 January 2013.
  15. "Bollywood Actress Preity Zinta Files Molestation Case Against Business Tycoon (Report)". The Hollywood Reporter. Prometheus Global Media. 14 June 2014. Archived from the original on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  16. "Preity Zinta files molestation complaint against Ness Wadia". The Times of India. 14 June 2014. Archived from the original on 14 June 2014. Retrieved 14 June 2014.
  17. "Key points of Preity Zinta's molestation complaint against ex-beau Ness Wadia". The Indian Express. 14 June 2014. Archived from the original on 15 June 2014. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  18. "Ness Wadia threw burning cigarettes at my face: Preity Zinta to police". Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  19. "Ness Wadia News". news18. Archived from the original on 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 March 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.