Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Rajeev Chandrasekhar | |
---|---|
MP of Rajya Sabha for Karnataka | |
Assumed office 3 April 2012 | |
Founder, Chairman and CEO Jupiter Capital | |
Assumed office 20 July 2005 | |
President of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry | |
In office 2007–2008 | |
Personal details | |
Born |
Ahmedabad, Gujarat | 31 May 1964
Nationality | Indian |
Political party | Independent |
Spouse(s) | Anju Chandrasekhar |
Parents | Air Commodore M K Chandrasekhar and Mrs Valli Chandrasekhar |
Residence | Bangalore, India |
Alma mater |
Manipal Institute of Technology Illinois Institute of Technology Harvard University |
Website |
www |
Rajeev Chandrasekhar (born 31 May 1964) is an Indian politician and an entrepreneur who is currently serving as Member of Parliament in the upper house (Rajya Sabha) of the Indian Parliament . He represents the state of Karnataka.
He also currently serves as member of the Parliament Standing Committee on Defence, Consultative Committee on Defence, the Central Advisory Committee for the National Cadet Corps, Select committee on Real Estate and Select Committee on GST.
He is the founder and chairman of Jupiter Capital, a financial services and investment company, and founder of BPL Mobile, a major mobile phone service provider in India.
Early life and education
Rajeev was born in Ahmedabad, Gujarat to Air Commodore M. K. Chandrasekhar of the Indian Air Force, and Mrs. Valli Chandrasekhar.
He studied in various schools across India, and enrolled to study electrical engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology. He completed Masters in Computer Science in 1988 from Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. He then completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School.
Career
In 1981, Rajeev briefly worked for Softech, a start-up IT firm. After handpicked by Vinod Dham, Rajeev worked for Intel Corporation in the United States between 1985 and 1991 as Senior Design Engineer of the team that designed and launched 32 bit 80486 microprocessor and CPU architect in the team that designed the path breaking Pentium microprocessor.
Entrepreneur
In 1994, Rajeev founded BPL Mobile. On July 2005, he sold his 64 percent stake in BPL Communications to Essar Group for US$1.1 billion.
Rajeev founded Jupiter Capital in 2005, with an initial investment of US$100 million, and currently has investments and managed assets of over US$800 million in technology, media, hospitality and entertainment. Jupiter Entertainment Ventures Private Limited owns and operates media companies including Asianet News, Kannada Prabha and Suvarna News 24x7. The company also owns radio brands Best FM and Radio IndigoIndigo.[1] [2]
In April 2013, he was awarded an honorary doctorate by Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belgaum, for his work as an entrepreneur.
Politics
Member of Parliament
Rajeev Chandrasekhar was an Independent member of Rajya Sabha representing Karnataka from April 2006 to April 2012. In April 2012, he was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka for a second six-year term as an Independent member. He has advocated for governance reforms, institution building, Internet freedom, national security, welfare of the Armed Forces Personnel and sustainable city building of Bangalore and Karnataka.
Positions held
- Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Jupiter Capital Pvt. Ltd.
- Founder and Principal Donor – Flags of Honour Foundation
- Founder and Managing Trustee – RC Foundation (RCF)
- Chairman, National Military Memorial
- Vice-Chairman, Kerala unit of the BJP-led NDA
Personal life
Rajeev is married to Anju Chandrasekhar. They have a son, Ved, and a daughter Devika.
Honours, awards and international recognition
Year | Name | Awarding organization | Ref. |
---|---|---|---|
2007 | IIT Global Service Award. | Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago. | [3] |
References
Further reading
- Sanghvi, Vir (2012). Men of Steel. Roli Books Private Limited. ISBN 9788174368256.
- Denyer, Simon (2012). Rogue Elephant: Harnessing the Power of India's Unruly Democracy. A&C Black. ISBN 9781408849767.
External links
- Official website
- Profile on Rajya Sabha website