Lalit Kumar Modi was born in 1963 in New Delhi, scion of a Rs. 4000 crore industrialist empire, but rather than being content with what he already had he went on to take the path less traveled at entrepeneur boomtime to help create what today is the richest sporting entity in the world amongst other things. Visionary, perfectionist, professional, a hands on man of action, are but a few words and ways that have been used to describe him.
It began with the introduction of the pay channel concept in India in 1995 which allowed Indian viewers to watch world class cricket on ESPN. The success of this led to his introducing Ten Sports into the market in 2002. His rise into the ranks of Indian Cricket began in 2005 when he entered the administration of cricket to become the President of the Rajasthan Cricket Association, pulling off a remarkable feat of turning over a huge profit at his first ODI between India and Sri Lanka in 2005, something rare. Shortly after that he was appointed one of the Vice Presidents of the new BCCI and not long after, the Chairman of the Marketing Sub Committee of the Board. Within 6 months of taking over this position, the BCCI raked in just over USD$1.6 billion with the sale of rights for the Indian Cricket Team. Two years on, after quietly working on the development of the domestic Twenty20 league that he was hungry to launch and rejuvenate Indian domestic cricket, the Indian Premier League was born. September 2007 saw the beginning of a new age in cricket. With the new BCCI, Lalit has lent a hand in developing and instilling a sense of professionalism which was lacking in the old Board, something not new to him but instilled by his family legacy.
He serves as an Executive Director on the board of one of India's leading tobacco companies, Godfrey Phillips Limited. He has also been instrumental in bringing in high end premium apparel brand - Ermenegildo Zegna into the Indian retail market. He was responsible for launching Disney Consumer products, Buena Vista Television and Fashion TV into the Indian market.
