Harish Manwani (born 1953) is an Indian business executive who was the global chief operating officer of Unilever. He is currently[when?] the senior operating Partner at Blackstone and a director of Whirlpool, Qualcomm, Gilead Sciences and Tata Sons among others.[1]

Harish Manwani
Harish Manwani, COO of Unilever
Born1953 (age 70–71)
CitizenshipIndian
Alma materJamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies
OccupationDirector
SpouseRadha Manwani
Children2

Early life

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Manwani went to St. Xavier's School, Delhi and graduated from Mumbai University. He obtained a master's degree in management studies at Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies.

Career

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In 1976, Manwani joined Unilever in India (Hindustan Lever Limited). He became a member of the company board with responsibility for the Personal Products Division. He also held regional responsibility for personal products in Central Asia and the Middle East.

In 2000, he moved to Unilever headquarters in the UK as the senior vice president of global hair care and oral care and subsequently held several senior general management positions with P&L responsibilities including president of home and personal care for Latin America, president and CEO of Unilever HPC North America, president Asia, Africa, Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe. He was made a non-executive chairman of Hindustan Unilever in 2005.

In 2011, he was appointed the global COO for Unilever, with P&L responsibility for all the markets.[2] He retired on 31 December 2014, after more than 38 years.[3]

He is now[when?] senior operating partner with Blackstone[4] and is on several international boards and is also chairman of the Indian School of Business.[5]

Awards

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The Asia Business Leader of the Year in 2008 by CNBC Asia.[6]

Personal life

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Harish is married and has two daughters.

He was one of the hostages who were trapped in Taj Hotel in Mumbai during the terrorist attack in Mumbai.[7]

References

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  1. ^ "Whirlpool Corporation Appoints Harish Manwani to Board of Directors". Bloomberg. 15 August 2011. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  2. ^ Burritt, Chris; Fletcher, Clementine (24 June 2011). "Unilever Names Asia Head Manwani as Chief Operating Officer". Bloomberg. Retrieved 7 October 2012.
  3. ^ "Harish Manwani to retire as Unilever COO on December 31". NetIndian. 30 September 2014. Retrieved 30 September 2014.
  4. ^ "Harish Manwani, former COO of Unilever, Becomes Advisor to Blackstone". Blackstone. 25 August 2023.
  5. ^ "Harish Manwani to succeed Adi Godrej as Chairman of the Executive Board of the Indian School of Business". Indian School of Business.
  6. ^ "Asia Business Leader Awards (ABLA) 2008". Archived from the original on 20 September 2008.
  7. ^ "Mumbai attack: Corporate honchos trapped in Taj safe?".
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