Silicon Valley-based The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) has named Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, as the ‘Global Entrepreneur of the Year’ in business transformation. Birla is the first Indian industrialist to receive this award . He was given this award at a ceremony in Dubai for his leadership of the conglomerate during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Birla joins an exclusive list of global entrepreneurs to receive the award this year that include Elon Musk (Global Entrepreneur of the Year – Immigrant Entrepreneur), Jeff Bezos (Global Entrepreneur of the Year – First Generation) and ca (Global Entrepreneur of the Year – Entrepreneurial CEO).
The awardees were selected by an independent jury chaired by Tim Draper, venture capital investor and founder of US-based Draper University. Birla said the group stands out for its pace of activity, range of businesses and breadth of its geographical presence. The pandemic brought to the fore the inherent resilience and agility of the group that enabled businesses to reboot and renew.“I receive this award on behalf of 140,000 colleagues from over 100 nationalities,” he said.