…Mitchell Elegbe among the panel of judges
Vellayan Subbiah, executive vice-chairman of Tube Investments of India (TII) and chairman of Cholamandalam (Chola) Investment and Finance Company Limited has been named the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024 at an award ceremony held recently in Monaco’s Salle des Etoiles.
This year’s winner was chosen by an independent panel of judges, drawn from a diverse and esteemed group of entrepreneurs across geographies, including Nigerian Entrepreneur Mitchell Elegbe, group CEO of Interswitch Nigeria.
Vellayan was selected from among 5,000 participants including 51 country winners across 47 countries and jurisdictions that competed for this year’s global award title.
His professional journey 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. He 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 capitalization 60x over the course of his tenure.
Speaking on Vellayan’s choice, Carmine Di Sibio, EY Global Chairman and CEO, says: “Vellayan possesses all of the qualities one looks for in an entrepreneur. His philosophy of enabling others to ‘enter a better life’ is the embodiment of what it means to be EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year”.
Mitchell, on the other hand, while congratulating the winner, admitted that the selection process was rigorous, tasking, and robust, adding: “Each of the 51-country winners has a fantastic story, but Vellayan’s entrepreneurial story was very remarkable. I want to extend my gratitude and appreciation to EY Nigeria for giving me the honour and big opportunity to fly the Nigerian and African flag on the global stage like World Entrepreneur Awards in Monaco among the panel of judges”.
Also speaking, Ashish Bakhshi, Sr. Partner, head of markets and EOY Leader, EY West Africa, who witnessed the award-studded event, congratulated the winner for his entrepreneurial acumen, noting that the award programme was designed to celebrate the accomplishments of visionary business leaders across industries who are transforming the economy and answering the clarion call to address the global challenges.
“I am deeply honoured and grateful to be recognized as the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year. The spirit of entrepreneurship runs deep within me, and I continue to be equally inspired by those who came before and those who follow.”
“I’m steadfast in my belief that by approaching challenges as opportunities and committing ourselves to a path of self-improvement, there is no limit to what we can achieve.”
All the country winner entrepreneurs were judged against four main criteria, namely: entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, growth and impact in the choice of the overall winner.
