Arun Sarin

{{Short description|Indian-American businessman (born 1954)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}} {{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}} {{BLP sources|date=January 2008}} {{Infobox person | name = Arun Sarin | image = | alt = | caption = | native_name_lang = Hindi | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1954|10|21|df=y}} | birth_place = Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, India | death_date =  | death_place = | other_names = | education = B.Tech. (1975) IIT, Kharagpur MS (1978) UC Berkeley MBA (1978) Haas School of Business | occupation = Business executive | years_active = | known_for = Former CEO of Vodafone (2003 - 2008) | predecessor = Sir Christopher Gent | successor = Vittorio Colao | notable_works = | boards = Accenture Ola Electric Charles Schwab UC Berkeley }}

'''Arun Sarin''' (born 21 October 1954) is an Indian-American telecommunications executive.

Sarin was the former CEO of the telecom giant Vodafone, serving from 2003 until 2008. He drove the integration of Vodafone, Airtouch and Mannesman. He was also the driving force behind the Vodafone's strategic move into emerging markets, especially Asia and Africa, through the purchases of Turkish operator Telsim and a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar in India. He was a senior advisor at the private equity firm KKR. He also serves on the board of directors of Ola Electric, Charles Schwab and Accenture.

Sarin received an honorary knighthood from the Queen at Buckingham Palace on 10 March 2010.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Arun Sarin conferred Honorary knighthood| work=Hindustan Times |date = 5 February 2010|url = http://www.hindustantimes.com/business/arun-sarin-conferred-honorary-knighthood/story-AV2br4Hh4ir4I3LmaSCyAM.html|accessdate = 2015-10-23}}</ref>

== Early life and education == Sarin was born in Pachmarhi, Madhya Pradesh, India, in 1954.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|last=Holton|first=Kate|date=2008-05-27|title=Vodafone's Arun Sarin bows out on his terms|language=en|work=Reuters|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idINIndia-33784920080527|access-date=2020-08-07}}</ref> He pursued his secondary education at the Bangalore Military School.<ref name=":0" /> Thereafter, he joined the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur<ref name=":0" /> and graduated with a B.Tech. degree in metallurgical engineering in 1975. In 1978, he gained a MS in engineering and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Arun Sarin - Alumni Profiles, Full-Time MBA Program - Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley|url=http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/community/alumni/profiles/sarin_arun.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150907025109/http://mba.haas.berkeley.edu/community/alumni/profiles/sarin_arun.html |archive-date=7 September 2015 |accessdate=2015-10-23|website=Berkeley Haas}}</ref>

== Career ==

=== Early career and AirTouch (1984 - 1999) === He started his career as a management consultant before moving in 1984 to Pacific Telesis Group in San Francisco.<ref name=":0" /> He was a director of AirTouch from July 1995 and was President and Chief Operating Officer from February 1997.<ref name=":0" />

=== Vodafone (1999 - 2008) === AirTouch was sold to Vodafone in 1999 for about $75 billion. He was then appointed Vodafone's chief executive officer for the United States and Asia Pacific region until 15 April 2000, when Vodafone's U.S. interests were merged into Verizon Wireless. He subsequently became chief executive of InfoSpace in 2000 and of Accel-KKR Telecom based in San Francisco from 2001 to 2003, while serving as a non-executive director of Vodafone. He rejoined Vodafone as chief executive designate on 1 April 2003 and was appointed on a permanent basis after the company's annual general meeting on 30 July 2003. On 27 May 2008, he announced his resignation (effective July) as CEO after Vodafone achieved record earnings.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

During his tenure as chief executive of Vodafone group plc, he expanded the company geographically into countries like India, Turkey, South Africa etc. increasing the customer base to approximately 300 million. He expanded the product line of the company to include data, internet and broadband services. He streamlined the operations of the company under the Vodafone brand to utilize the global scale while maintaining local customer focus. He increased the dividends per share by 400 percent and returned value to shareholders through buybacks.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

Sarin retired from Vodafone immediately after the company's annual general meeting on 29 July 2008, and was succeeded by then deputy-CEO Vittorio Colao.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/media/vodafone-group-releases/2008/vodafone_announces6.html |title=Vodafone Announces New Chief Executive |date=2008-05-27 |website=Vodafone |accessdate=2008-05-27 |archive-date=11 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150411162058/http://www.vodafone.com/content/index/media/vodafone-group-releases/2008/vodafone_announces6.html |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |date=2008-05-27 |title=Vodafone, cambio al vertice Sarin si dimette, è l'ora di Colao |url=http://www.corriere.it/economia/08_maggio_27/colao_vodafone_b3d7e824-2bb7-11dd-9d26-00144f02aabc.shtml |language=it |location=Milan |newspaper=Corriere della Sera}}</ref>

=== After Vodafone (2008 to present) === In October 2009, Sarin was appointed as a senior advisor at the private equity firm KKR.<ref>{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=KKR Appoints Arun Sarin as Senior Advisor|url=http://media.kkr.com/media/media_releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=414197|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304105634/http://media.kkr.com/media/media_releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=414197|archive-date=4 March 2016|accessdate=2015-10-23|website=KKR}}</ref> He has been a member of the advisory board of Accel KKR from 2010 until 2019. He is currently an investor and adviser to a number of early stage technology companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area and India.

== Board == He serves on the board of directors of Ola Electric,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/business/Industry/former-vodafone-global-ceo-arun-sarin-joins-ola-as-independent-director/article7395233.ece |title=Ex-Vodafone global CEO Arun Sarin joins Ola board |website=The Hindu|date=7 July 2015 |last1=Chandran |first1=Pradeesh }}</ref> Accenture<ref>{{cite web |url=https://newsroom.accenture.com/news/accenture-announces-appointment-of-arun-sarin-to-its-board-of-directors.htm|title=Accenture Announces Appointment of Arun Sarin to its Board of Directors|website=Accenture}}</ref> and Charles Schwab. He also sits on the board of trustees for the Blum Center for Developing Economies at the University of California, Berkeley.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://blumcenter.berkeley.edu/about/people/board/ |title=Board |website=Blum Center for Developing Economies |access-date=5 April 2015 |archive-date=11 August 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811011203/http://blumcenter.berkeley.edu/about/people/board/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== References == {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sarin, Arun}} Category:1954 births Category:20th-century American businesspeople Category:American people of Punjabi descent Category:American chief executives in technology Category:American businesspeople in the telecommunications industry Category:Businesspeople awarded knighthoods Category:Businesspeople from Madhya Pradesh Category:Haas School of Business alumni Category:Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:IIT Kharagpur alumni Category:Indian emigrants to the United States Category:Living people Category:People from Pachmarhi Category:UC Berkeley College of Engineering alumni Category:Vodafone people