Veteran Indian Origin Global Banker Victor Menezes Passes Away at 77

Pune-born Victor J Menezes, one of the earliest India-origin CXOs to lead multinationals, passed away in Miami, Florida, in the United States, at the age of 77.

- BOBBY ANTHONY

Menezes is survived by his wife Tara Anne Fonseca, a former Indian model and beauty pageant titleholder who won the Miss Asia-Pacific 1973 contest, as well as his four children. His younger brother, the late Sir Ivan Menezes, used to be the CEO of Diageo.

Biocon Ltd founder and executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw tweeted the death of Menezes on her X account, calling him "a wonderful and wise colleague at MIT Corporation who will be missed for his intellect".

Victor Menezes was an alumnus of IIT-Bombay and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He had a 32-year-long association with Citibank and retired as the global banking major's Senior Vice Chairman in January 2005.

Victor Menezes was born to Indian Railway Board Chairman Manuel Menezes and Nina Menezes on May 19, 1949. It was at his father's insistence that Victor decided to go to IIT Bombay in Powai. It proved to be the best decision of his life. Victor was a good student at IIT, but not outstanding. Victor, who got good grades and knew his subjects well, was better known for his skills as an orator. The debating society at IIT Bombay helped Victor hone his communication skills. The soft-spoken, shy Victor emerged as an unlikely champion in the fierce verbal duels which characterised the debates at IIT Bombay (Powai).

"Victor won most of the time. He knew how to keep his head at the debates and attack his opponents' arguments. Everyone wanted him on their team because he could win," recalled one of his seniors at IIT Bombay.

After doing electrical engineering from IIT Bombay in 1970, Menezes acquired his MBA in finance and economics from Sloan School of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), majoring in finance. It was the desire "to do something broader" that prompted the switch. "I wanted to have more options. I did not want to join a technical firm and work there for the rest of my life," Victor Menezes once said.