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Ajit Jain

Ajit Jain
Born
Sundargarh, Odisha, India
CitizenshipUnited States
EducationIIT Kharagpur (B.Tech)
Harvard University (MBA)
OccupationBusinessman
TitleVice Chairman of Insurance Operations, Berkshire Hathaway
Board member ofBerkshire Hathaway
SpouseTinku Jain (m. 1981)

Ajit Jain (born 23 July 1951) is an Indian-American executive who is the Vice Chairman of Insurance Operations for Berkshire Hathaway as of January 10, 2018.[1][2] Ajit Jain is an older cousin of Anshu Jain, who was the former Co-CEO of Deutsche Bank.[3]

Education

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Jain attended Stewart School in Cuttack. In 1972, he graduated from the IIT Kharagpur in India with a B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering.[4][5]

Career

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From 1973 to 1976, Jain worked for IBM as a salesman for their data-processing operations in India. He was named "Rookie of the Year" in his region in 1973.[6] He lost his job in 1976 when IBM discontinued their operation in India because they declined to allow any Indian ownership of the company, as was then required by law.[6]

In 1978, Jain moved to the United States, where he earned an MBA from Harvard University and joined McKinsey & Co. He returned to India in the early 1980s and married. The Jains then moved back to the United States, as Jain's wife preferred to live there.[7]

In 1986, he left McKinsey to work on insurance operations for Warren Buffett. Jain was invited by his former boss, Michael Goldberg, who had left McKinsey & Co. to join Berkshire Hathaway in 1982.[6] At the time, he said he knew little about the insurance business.[8]

In the annual letter to shareholders on 2014, it was suggested that both Jain and Greg Abel could be appropriate successors for Warren Buffett as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.[9][10] In January 2018, Jain was named Berkshire Hathaway's vice chair of insurance operations and appointed to Hathaway's board of directors.[2]

Philanthropy

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Jain lives in the New York City area.[11]

In 2005, Jain established the Jain Foundation, a non-profit organization located in Seattle, Washington, the mission of which is to cure limb-girdle muscular dystrophies caused by dysferlin protein deficiency, a condition that Jain's son has.[12][13]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ S, Anusha; Krishnan, Janaki (2003-06-27). "Warren Buffett testing Indian market". Rediff. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2007-03-24.
  2. ^ a b Kim, Tae (2018-01-10). "Warren Buffett takes a step closer to naming a successor as Berkshire appoints Abel and Jain to board as vice chairs". CNBC. Retrieved 2018-01-12.
  3. ^ "The India-born banker who transformed Deutsche Bank is on his way out". Quartz (publication). June 8, 2015.
  4. ^ "Ajit Jain leads pack to take over from Warren Buffett". Hindustan Times. 2012-05-08. Archived from the original on July 6, 2014.
  5. ^ Holm, Erik; Ng, Serena (2012-05-05). "In Ajit Jain, Some See Next Buffett". The Wall Street Journal. pp. B1–B2. Retrieved 2015-04-05.
  6. ^ a b c Miles, Robert P. (2001). The Warren Buffett CEO: Secrets from the Berkshire Hathaway Managers. New York: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 69–70. ISBN 0-471-44259-3.
  7. ^ "Ajit Jain: Berkshire's next Oracle?". Rediff India Abroad. 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  8. ^ Urban, Rob (2006-07-11). "Jain, Buffett Pupil, Boosts Berkshire Cash as Succession Looms". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2006-07-23.
  9. ^ "Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder Letter for 2014" (PDF). his successors would not be 'of only moderate ability.' For instance, Ajit Jain and Greg Abel are proven performers
  10. ^ "Ajit Jain may head Buffett firm". The Asian Age. Press Trust of India (PTI). 2015-03-02. Archived from the original on 2015-04-02.
  11. ^ Steve Jordon (May 2, 2015). "Meet Ajit Jain, the man in charge of Warren Buffett's profit machine". Omaha World-Herald. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  12. ^ "It's personal: Big business searches for cures". Fortune. 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2014-07-27.
  13. ^ "Jain Foundation Steps Up Efforts to Find Cure for Muscular Dystrophy". Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News. 2013-10-16. Retrieved 2014-07-27.

Further reading

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