Vellayan Subbiah, Executive Vice-Chairman of Tube Investments of India (TII) and Chairman of Cholamandalam (Chola) Investment and Finance Co. Ltd., was named the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 at an award ceremony held in Monaco’s Salle des Etoiles.

Vellayan was selected from among nearly 5,000 programme participants that included 51 winners across 47 countries and jurisdictions competing for the global title. He is the fourth winner from India in the award’s 24-year history and his win also makes India the only country among EY regions to win the global entrepreneurship award four times. Narayana Murthy, Uday Kotak and Kiran Mazumdar Shaw are the other Indians to win this award.

“Vellayan is a transformative business leader with an ambition to change the trajectory of India, his companies and his people. His professional journey, which began as an engineer and then a strategic consultant, shifted towards entrepreneurship when he started taking over leadership roles in his family’s business nearly 15 years ago. Vellayan first successfully navigated Chola through the fallout of a troubled partnership amid a global recession, ultimately becoming the company’s chairman and growing its market capitalisation 60x over the course his tenure,” EY said in a press release.

Exemplary track record

Carmine Di Sibio, EY Global Chairman and CEO, said, “Vellayan possesses all of the qualities one looks for in an entrepreneur. The impressive growth of the businesses he’s led have been remarkable, but his story goes far beyond numbers. His humble and personable approach to leadership and his philosophy of enabling others to ‘enter a better life’ are the embodiment of what it means to be EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year. He also has an exemplary track record on giving back through education scholarships, health innovations and environmental stewardship. Congratulations to Vellayan, a truly deserving world winner.”

Vellayan Subbiah, Executive Vice-Chairman of Tube Investments of India (TII) and Chairman of Cholamandalam (Chola) Investment and Finance Co. Ltd., said, “I am deeply honored and grateful to be recognised as the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year. As part of a fourth-generation family business, the spirit of entrepreneurship runs deep within me. I am inspired by those who came before me and those who will follow. I firmly believe that by approaching challenges as opportunities and committing ourselves to a path of self-improvement, there is no limit to what we can achieve. Thanks to my incredible colleagues who have made it all possible and I hope to further the legacy of past winners by continuing to elevate others throughout my entrepreneurial journey.”

Reflecting on the Vellayan’s achievements, Rajiv Memani, Chairman and CEO, EY India, said, “I am thrilled and immensely proud to witness an Indian entrepreneur win on the global stage. Vellayan has grown and transformed his businesses to remarkable scale through a customer-centric approach, innovation and long-term sustainability at the core. He is a business leader driven by a purposeful vision of nation-building and transformative change, deeply rooted in Indian spirituality that also steers his entrepreneurial ambitions.”

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