Lalit Modi

Born In: New Delhi
Born On: 29th November, 1963
Known As: Entrepreneur

Lalit Modi, the President and Managing Director of Modi Enterprises is an innovative and self-motivated personality who has instrumented his success in the field of business. He has been the engineer behind the Indian Premium League (IPL) which has had four successful seasons. He has also held several high ranking positions in many cricket associations. In the past, Modi served as the Vice-President of BCCI, president of the Rajasthan Cricket Association and is presently the Vice-President of the Punjab Cricket Association. With his intellectual abilities and remarkable business acumen, Modi has managed to carve a unique identity for himself. Today Modi is regarded as one of the most powerful and influential figures in Indian cricket. He is a maverick opportunist who has managed to build an expanding business empire. Honored with the title of "Game Changers of the Decade" by Business Standard in 2009, Modi has won several presitgious laurels for his innovative and constructive ideas by many international business forums. Read on to know more about the life of Lalit Modi and his uphill ascent.

Early Life
Lalit Modi was born into an affluent business family and was one of the successors to his father's forty billion business industries. As a young child he was enrolled into the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and completed his formal education in 1971. During his schooling he was known to have a keen interest in sports and personally played a number of games. Thereafter, he attended St Joseph's College in Nainital but he did not complete his education in India as he had plans to earn a foreign degree. Since he performed well in the entrance exams held for admission to American colleges, he chose to skip his exams in India and attended universities in America. He first completed his electrical engineering and then got a business administration degree at Pace University and Duke University during the years 1983 and 1986. Lalit has two siblings named Samir Modi and Charu Modi.

Career
Soon after his education, Modi played an active role in his family business that was set up by his grandfather Raj Bahadur Gujarmal Modi and was taken care of by his father Krishan Kumar Modi. He enjoyed a privileged position at the top management level when he was appointed the President and Managing Director of Modi Enterprises. In 1992 he was chosen as the Executive Director of Godfrey Phillips India and has managed to successfully take the company to new heights. Godfrey Phillips India is one of India's leading cigarette companies that is jointly endorsed by Modi Enterprises and Philip Morris International. Lalit's business interests soon diverged to the entertainment networking organization. In 1993 he made his presence felt in this field with a joint venture between Modi Entertainment Networks (MEN) and Walt Disney Pictures. According to the deal Disney gave some of its broadcasting content to MEN to televise it in India. In the same year he also attained the broadcasting rights of Fashion TV for ten years. In the next year he became the sole distributor for the whole of India for the ESPN by signing a ten year contract with the channel heads. The contract was valued at $975 million dollars. His role mainly included the task of collecting funds from local cable companies in return for televising ESPN. The business relationship between MEN and ESPN proved to be a profitable as ESPN bagged commercial rights for the T20 Champions League till 2017. This was done under the support and guidance of Lalit Modi.

Being the business visionary that he was, Lalit understood the importance and popularity of cricket in the country. He became a member of the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association in 1999, but failed to succeed in his ambition. In 2004, Lalit Modi joined the Rajasthan Cricket Association and thereafter became the President of the association. This in turn earned him a seat at the BCCI. The following year Modi was elected as the Vice-President of BCCI, during his tenure he was solely responsible for increasing the revenue seven times over in just three years. In the three years as Vice-President of BCCI he was actively involved with the commercial aspects of cricket and this helped the BCCI rake in an annual income of 1 billion USD. In 2008, Modi was the mastermind behind the Indian Premier League (IPL) and it proved to be one of his most profitable business ventures.

Legacy
In 2008, Lalit Modi was the brain behind the Indian Premium League (IPL), which is a cricket tournament modeled around the T20 form of cricket. The concept of T20 was first seen in England where inter- county tournaments played between England and Wales were held. Modi was the first person to introduce this concept to India and it has managed to be a big crowd puller, thanks to Modi's effective marketing skills.

Personal Life
Lalit is married to Minal who he met in the USA during his student days. He has three children Karima, Ruchir and Aliya. Karima is Minal's first child from her previous marriage. Currently she is resides in London. Ruchir also lives in London and is said to be close friends with business tycoon, Vijay Mallya's son Siddhartha Mallya. Aliya is pressently purusing her education in Switerzerland at Aiglon College.

Achievemnts and Awards
Since 2006, Lalit has been an important face amongst professional cricket circuits in India and has been instantly recognized for his work. During his initial association as BCCI's Vice-President he has been solely responsible for converting it into a thriving and profitable organization. In 2008, when Modi transformed his ideas into a reality, his idea soon became a big success. Modi became an influential and powerful figure in the phase of Indian cricket. The year 2008 proved to be the best year for his business career as he was awarded and honored by a number of business organizations.

'Business Standard Award' for making BCCI the Most Innovative Company in India for 2008
Time Magazine ranked him 16th in a list of the world's best sports executives
'Brand Builder of the Year' by Asia Brand Conference
'Excellence in Innovation' - Frost & Sullivan Growth Excellence Awards
'The Most Innovative Business Leader in India' by NDTV Profit
'The Consumer Award for Transforming Cricket in India' by CNBC Awaaz
'Sport Business Leader' award by CBNC-TV18

Timeline

1963: He was born in New Delhi.
1992: He was appointed as the Executive Director of Godfrey Phillips India.
1993: Modi entered into the entertainment networking industry with a joint venture with Walt Disney.
1994: He signed another deal with ESPN to obtain the channel's broadcasting rights.
2005: He became the President of Rajasthan Cricket Assoication.
2005: In the same year he was appointed as BCCI's Vice President.
2008: He was the first to introduce IPL successfully to India.
2010: He was elected as the Vice-President of the Punjab Cricket Association