Ajit Balakrishnan
{{Short description|Indian businessman}}
{{EngvarB|date=March 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ajit Balakrishnan
| image =
| caption = Ajit Balakrishnan
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1948|07|22|df=yes}}
| citizenship = India
| alma_mater = IIM Calcutta
University of Kerala
| occupation = Chairman & CEO of Rediff.com
| predecessor =
| awards =
}}
Ajit Balakrishnan is an Indian entrepreneur, business executive and administrator.{{Cite web |date=2023-08-01 |title=Ajit Balakrishnan: India's 'Internet genius' |url=https://www.afaqs.com/news/guest-article/ajit-balakrishnan-indias-internet-genius |access-date=2023-09-28 |website=afaqs!}} He is the founder, current chairman-Emeritus of Rediff.com, an internet company based in Mumbai.{{Cite news |url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/6b2202a2-86e2-11e0-9d41-00144feabdc0.html |title=How I made it: Ajit Balakrishnan |author=Stephen Wilmot |accessdate=8 February 2012 |work=Financial Times |date=26 May 2011}}{{Cite web|url=http://dare.co.in/people/featured-entrepreneur/ajit-balakrishnan-rediff-com.htm |title=Ajit Balakrishnan, Rediff.com |accessdate=8 February 2012 |work=dare.co.in |date=1 June 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217005140/http://dare.co.in/people/featured-entrepreneur/ajit-balakrishnan-rediff-com.htm |archivedate=17 December 2011 }} He was chairman of the Board of Governors of Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIM Calcutta) for two five-year terms ending in March 2017.{{Cite web |url=https://people.forbes.com/profile/ajit-balakrishnan/67476 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212115330/http://people.forbes.com/profile/ajit-balakrishnan/67476 |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 February 2009 |title=Speaker Corner: Ajit Balakrishnan |accessdate=8 February 2012 |work=Forbes }}
Education
Balakrishnan holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of Kerala and an MBA from Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (1971).{{Cite web|url=http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/newmediacongress/sp_Ajitbalakrishnan.aspx |title=Ajit Balakrishnan |accessdate=8 February 2012 |publisher=NDTV |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120926040508/http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/newmediacongress/sp_Ajitbalakrishnan.aspx |archivedate=26 September 2012 }}
Business
Balakrishnan's first business was Rediffusion, now known as Rediffusion DY&R (Dentsu Young & Rubicam), which he co-founded when he was 22. In 1995, he founded Rediff.com, which became a highly successful internet site, and was listed on NASDAQ in 2001.[http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/redf Rediff listed on NASDAQ in 2001].
Writing
He writes a column in Business Standard{{Cite web|url=http://www.business-standard.com/columnists/search/name/ajit-balakrishnan-6|title=Columnists - Business Standard|accessdate=8 March 2024}} and has written a book published by Macmillan Publishers{{Cite web|url=https://twitter.com/PanMacIndia/status/277813780132556800|title=Book Review: The Wave Rider|accessdate=8 March 2024}} called The Wave Rider.{{Cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ICHDc_tInjAC | title=The Wave Rider: A Chronicle of the Information Age| isbn=9781447241157| last1=Balakrishnan| first1=Ajit| date=2012-12-06| publisher=Pan Macmillan}} He has co-authored a research paper, Generic Framework for a Recommendation System using Collective Intelligence,{{cite book | chapter-url=https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/5402612 | doi=10.1109/ICITST.2009.5402612 | chapter=Generic framework for recommendation system using collective intelligence | title=2009 International Conference for Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, (ICITST) | year=2009 | last1=Patel | first1=A. | last2=Balakrishnan | first2=A. | pages=1–6 | isbn=978-1-4244-5648-2 | s2cid=818956 }} with Alkesh Patel which was presented at the International Conference on Internet Technology and Secured Transactions, 2009.
Public service
Balakrishnan served as the Chairman of the Board of Governors of IIM Calcutta for two five-year terms ending in March 2017.[http://www.iimcal.ac.in/about/list-of-board-members Board of Governors - IIM Calcutta]. He has in the past served on the Governing Council of Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC).[https://www.cdac.in/ Centre for Development of Advanced Computing ]{{Cite web|url=https://www.cdac.in/index.aspx?id=pdf_gov_council|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170926235452/https://www.cdac.in/index.aspx?id=pdf_gov_council|url-status=live|archive-date=26 September 2017|title =Council|website=cdac.in}} He was named Chairman Emeritus of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI).{{Cite web|url=http://www.iamai.in/PRelease_Detail.aspx?nid=1641&NMonth=5&NYear=2008 |title=Chairman Emeritus at IAMAI |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924032357/http://www.iamai.in/PRelease_Detail.aspx?nid=1641&NMonth=5&NYear=2008 |archive-date=24 September 2015 }} He served as the chairman of the Govt of India, Ministry of Information Technology Working Group on Internet Governance and Proliferation. He chaired a committee appointed by India's Ministry of Human Resource Development on 'Research and Faculty Enhancement at the 7 IIMs'. He was a member of the Central Advisory Board of Education of the Government of India.[http://mhrd.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/ROP_61CABE.pdf Central Advisory Board of Education] {{Dead link|date=October 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://thewaverider.in/ The Wave Rider]
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balakrishnan, Ajit}}
Category:Indian Institute of Management Calcutta alumni
Category:Businesspeople from Mumbai
Category:Indian chief executives
Category:Indian mass media owners
Category:University of Kerala alumni
Category:Indian Internet celebrities
Category:Indian advertising executives