The Amazonian at Bajaj

RAJEEV JAIN IS TAKING THE FINANCIAL POWERHOUSE THE E-COMMERCE GIANT'S WAY TO AVOID A SEE'S CANDIES DILEMMA.

- BY V. KESHAVDEV

IN A QUIET, tree-lined lane in Pune's Viman Nagar, far removed from the bustle of Mumbai's central business districts, sits one of India's most formidable financial engines, Bajaj Finance Ltd (BFL). Valued at over $75 billion, it now ranks 52nd among the world's most valuable financial services companies by market cap.

It's here that Rajeev Jain, the 55-year-old vice chairman and MD of Bajaj Finance, greets Fortune India on an October afternoon. Dressed casually in a dark blue tee and faded blue jeans, he could easily pass off as a startup founder rather than the highest paid non-bank executive at ₹105 crore (salary plus stock options). But behind the understated demeanour is an architect of a near two-decade compounding story, 34% revenue growth and 48% profit growth annually, transforming a modest two-wheeler non-bank lender into one of India’s most admired financial powerhouses.

“I’m a workaholic... and if you take workaholism one notch higher, the manifestation of it is, we have a missionary zeal to make things happen,” says Jain, a line that feels prophetic given that he had to reassume charge as MD following the sudden exit of Arup Saha, his handpicked successor. Groomed for over seven years, Saha quit within months over an unconfirmed brush for the top job at IndusInd Bank. Jain will now stay at the helm till 2028; his bigger task though is to keep the compounding engine running even as he works on a board-mandated succession timeline.