India’s oldest billionaire and Anand Mahindra’s uncle Keshub Mahindra died at the age of 99 years on Wednesday. He was also the chairman of the Mahindra Group for almost 50 years from 1963 to 2012
At the time of his passing, the veteran industrialist and philanthropist had a net worth of $1.2 billion or Rs 98,45,48,40,000, according to Forbes
India's oldest billionaire Keshub Mahindra joined the Mahindra Group in 1947 after completing his graduation of Wharton. Mahindra took over as its chairman in 1963
In his almost five-decade-long tenure as the Mahindra Group chairman, Keshub Mahindra oversaw the group’s transformation from the manufacturer of the iconic Willys jeep to a diversified conglomerate.
The Mahindra Group is mostly famous for its tractors and SUVs and also has a presence in real estate, defence, aerospace, software services, and hospitality sectors
The veteran industrialist was the non-executive director of Union Carbide’s India subsidiary– UCIL– when the catastrophic Bhopal Gas Tragedy took place in 1984. 3,787 people lost their lives in Bhopal due to this incident, as per the Madhya Pradesh government
A local court convicted Keshub Mahindra and six other former UCIL employees in the Bhopal gas tragedy case. All of them were, however, granted bail shortly after the verdict
Keshub Mahindra retired as the Mahindra Group chairman in 2012 and handed over the reins to his nephew and Padma awardee Anand Mahindra. The Mahindra Group is a $19 billion organisation and one of India’s top 10 industrial houses as of this date
The veteran industrialist was also known for being a philanthropist. He was the director of Pratham and also set up the KC Mahindra Education Trust. He established the United World College in Pune
He was awarded the Chevalier de l'Ordre National de la Legion d'honneur by the French Government in 1987. Mahindra was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award in 2007 by Ernst & Young and the Frost and Sullivan Award for Leadership, Innovation and Growth in 2015