Anand Kripalu

Anand Kripalu’s full name is Anand Thirumalachar Kripalu. He is a businessman and entrepreneur who is well-known for being the Global CEO & Managing Director at Blackstone, backed by Essel Propack Limited (EPL). He is also the chairman of the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Company (CIABC). He was born on October 2, 1958. Anand Kripalu’s place of birth is Mumbai, Maharashtra. He was raised in a family with government employees. His father's name is Thirumalachar Kripalu he is a retired brigadier. His mother's name is Ammanni Kripalu. He has a brother named Vinod Kripalu who is the founder of PCI and DMRT. He married Sukanya Kripalu who is a director at Sukanya Consulting. He has two sons, namely Saurav Kripalu and Abhinav Kripalu. Anand Kripalu finished his primary education in London, as his father was posted in London as a member of the Indian High Commission for four years.

When Anand Kripalu turned nine, he shifted to New Delhi. As he had an English accent and could not speak Hindi well, he struggled to get school admission. He then studied at St. Columba's School, in New Delhi. In 1970, Anand Kripalu’s father was posted in Lucknow, where he enrolled in the La Martiniere College as a broader. After finishing a year in boarding school, Anand Kripalu began staying at his uncle’s house in Lucknow and finished his ninth & tenth classes as a day scholar. In the summers, he used to cycle thirteen km each way to school in Lucknow. Anand Kripalu took a Bachelor of Technology (B. Tech.) degree in Electronics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (1975 - 1980).

He began his career in the sales department at DCM Data Products selling computers. He liked his work so he appeared in the CAT (Common Admission Test) entrance exam through which he secured a position at IIM Calcutta. After that, he went to the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta, to pursue a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree (1981 – 1983). While pursuing an MBA, he earned the Distinguished Alumnus Award. Later on, he attended the Advanced Management Program at The Wharton School in 2004. After finishing his education, he began working at Ponds India on the sales team. He began working in the sales & marketing team at Hindustan Unilever, Mumbai. he worked there for twenty-two years. Instead of being the head of marketing in the company, Anand Kripalu traveled by train to sell the products and took a cycle rickshaw to reach the station from the hotel.

In 2004, he became the managing director of Hindustan Unilever in Nairobi, Kenya. The following year, he was appointed as the managing director of Cadbury in Mumbai. while he was engaged at Cadbury, Anand Kripalu was responsible for the twenty-five percent growth of Cadbury India's performance. After working for over two years as managing director, Anand Kripalu became the Asia President of Cadbury. He also launched the Cadbury Dairy Milk campaign titled “Shubh Aarambh,” which received the “Gold Standard 2011 APPIES Award” and the 2010 Abby’s “Grand Prix Award” in Singapore. In 2010, he became president of India and South East Asia regions at Mondelez International, Mumbai. As the non-executive director, he worked at Marico Limited, Mumbai (2007 – 2017). In 2013, he joined as the managing director & CEO of Diageo India.

Also, he was a member of the Diageo Global Executive Committee. He then worked as the chief executive officer of the liquor company United Spirits in 2014. In March 2019, he joined the Board of Governors at the Indian Institute of Management Jammu & Kashmir. In October 2020, he became the chairman of Royal Challengers Bangalore. He also invested in Superfoods Valley, a nutrition & food-tech start-up headquartered in Bangalore. In 2021, he also received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the IMA.