10 Successful Chartered Accountant Entrepreneurs in India

Table of Contents

1. Kumar Mangalam Birla
2. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
3. Deepak Parekh
4. Naina Lal Kidwai
5. Rakesh Nangia
6. Nirmal Jain
7. Radhe Shyam Agrawal
8. N. Manoharan
9. Aroon Purie
10. V. Mohandas Pai

Success is something that one has to define for oneself and it comes to those who come out of their comfort zone and do the required hard work to achieve their goals.

It is said that,

“The strong factor for success is Self Esteem: Believing you can do it, believing you deserve it and believing you will get it.”

Chartered Accountancy (CA) is regarded as one of the prestigious qualifications in India. Moreover, it is one of the most sought-after and toughest professional courses. It requires patience, belief and perseverance to achieve this respectful degree. The course is diverse and provides knowledge of all the financial, accounting and technical aspects of a business. That’s the reason many Chartered Accountants decide to start their business after completing the course and become successful. In India, there are many prominent people who are successful businessmen but whose identity as Chartered Accountants is not known to many people.

Here is the list of successful personalities/businessmen of India who are Chartered Accountants.

1. Kumar Mangalam Birla

Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of Aditya Birla Group, one of the largest global conglomerates in India. He is also a philanthropist and billionaire industrialist. He regularly contributes for public causes like better health and education facilities for weaker sections of society. Only a few people are aware that he is a Chartered Accountant with an MBA from London Business College.

2. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

Mr Rakesh Jhunjhunwala also known as “Indian Warren Buffett” has added glory to CA profession. He is an Indian billionaire stock trader and investor. He manages his own portfolio as a partner in Rare Enterprises, his asset management firm. He is also known as  “An Investor with a Midas Touch.” He has an estimated net worth of $5.8 billion (as of December 2021) making him the 48^th richest man in India.

3. Deepak Parekh

Deepak Parekh is an Indian businessman and Chairman of HDFC Group. HDFC is India’s leading housing finance company. A man with a mission, Mr. Parekh believes that if a company earns, it must also return to society and that companies owe a responsibility not just to shareholders, but also to all its stakeholders. Mr. Parekh is associated with Indo-US CEO Forum, City of London – Finance Committee, India-UK Financial Partnership (IUKFP), in an advisory capacity. Government and Industry impressed by Mr. Parekh’s performance have honoured him with several awards like the Padma Bhushan in 2006.

4. Naina Lal Kidwai

Naina Lal Kidwai is an Indian banker, Chartered Accountant and business executive. She is the Country-Head and Group General Manager of HSBC India (Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation). She was the first Indian woman to graduate from the prestigious Harvard Business School. She is an inspiration to many women in India. The Government of India has honoured her with Padma Shri.

5. Rakesh Nangia

A tax veteran and thought leader– Rakesh Nangia is the Non- Executive Chairman of Nangia Andersen India and Founder & Managing Partner of Nangia & Co LLP, one of the top leading CA firm and advisory firm in India. He has defined the future of various Fortune 500 multinationals and Indian business houses, by leading their advisory on a wide range of matters associated to FDI policy, International Tax, Cross-border tax structuring, Tax policy advocacy, Entry Level Strategy, India inbound/outbound, Mergers & Acquisitions, Cyber Security, Risk Advisory, structuring, restructuring & transfer pricing related issues and has been awarded as “Economic Times Most Promising Entrepreneur of year, 2020”. He is recognized by his clients as a trusted business advisor and has also been ranked as the ‘Top Tax Leader’ in India by International Tax Review, UK. He has four decades of experience in oil and gas sector, on tax and regulatory matters.

6. Nirmal Jain

Nirmal Jain is an Indian billionaire businessman. He is the Founder and Chairman of India Infoline Group (IIFL – India Infoline Finance Ltd), a financial conglomerate and investment company. But very few know that he is the fellow member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. He has also done his post-graduation from IIM, Ahmedabad. He started his career in 1989 with Hindustan Unilever Limited and thereafter, commenced IIFL Group in 1995. It started as an independent equity research company in India. Over the last 25 years, he has led the expansion of the group, while remaining focussed on financial services.

7. Radhe Shyam Agrawal

Radhe Shyam Agarwal is one of the most famous entrepreneurs in the country. He is the Co-founder and Executive Chairman of the Emami Group, a global group of company engaged in the business of FMCG, paper, real estate, edible oils, health care and cement. He is not only a Chartered Accountant but also a Company Secretary. He graduated from Kolkata’s St. Xavier’s College and had also pursued LLB and M.Com from Calcutta University.

8. N. Manoharan

Another strong personality and successful Chartered Accountant is T.N. Manoharan. Manoharan is a chartered accountant, who also reigned as the former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

He was also an Ex-chairman of Canara Bank, the fourth largest public sector bank in India. He has been honoured with the most reputable award Padma Shree in 2010.

In 2009, Manoharan was one of the six members (as representatives of Government of India) appointed to the board of the scandal hit information technology company Satyam Computer Services for restructuring the company.

9. Aroon Purie

Aroon Purie is the founding Chairman and former Editor-in-chief of India Today Group. Mr. AroonPurie is the head of one of India’s largest media conglomerate. He is a qualified Chartered Accountant and is the Managing Director of Thomson Press Limited and the Chairman and Managing Director of TV Today. He is also a recipient of the prestigious Padma Bhushan award.

10. V. Mohandas Pai

“Best CFO in India” awarded by Finance Asia, CA Mohandas is pride and inspiration for CA profession. He was a former Director of Infosys and Head – Administration, Education and Research, Financial, Human Resources of Infosys Leadership Institute.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in commerce from St. Joseph’s College of Commerce and a bachelor’s degree in law (LLB) from Bangalore University. He is also an esteemed fellow member of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI).

Conclusion

It is evident that entrepreneurship is both the toughest and easiest path to success. One will be his own boss, and one will have to take his own independent decisions. One question as to what helps Chartered Accountants in being a good businessman can be addressed here.

Following are the characteristics that CAs possess which can aid them in becoming successful businessmen.

• They understand the importance of money in the business: Business is about the money. CAs are highly competent of understanding the financial problems that are involved in any business, as they have majored in the topics related to Finance. They understand extensively that “money brings into more money”, provided one capitalises every opportunity knocking on the doorstep.
• They know more than just numbers: It is not uncommon for Chartered Accountants to be experts at other fields like taxation laws, auditing, and commercial laws. Such comprehensive knowledge aids them in managing their businesses well.
• They are analytical: Analytical skills are commonly developed by Chartered Accountants over the course of their work owing to its nature.
• Fiscal prudence and discipline are must for business: When it comes to discipline, many Chartered Accountants are already disciplined due to rigors of articleship. It is this discipline that will helps CAs to become extremely successful entrepreneurs.