Dr. HABIL KHORAKIWALA
Founder Chairman
Dr. Habil Khorakiwala founded Wockhardt in 1967. Today, the Wockhardt Group is India’s leading research-based global healthcare enterprise with relevance in the fields of Pharmaceuticals, Biotechnology, Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs), and Super Speciality Hospitals. An alumnus of Purdue University and Harvard Business School, he was the first non-American to be conferred with an Honorary Doctorate in 125 years by Purdue University (Pharmacy School) in 2010.
A member of the World Economic Forum, Dr. Khorakiwala has held many senior positions as an industry representative, and has been lauded and awarded by various institutions and organisations. As a former President of FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), he has met and shared India’s business and economic dynamics with many Presidents, Prime Ministers and Heads-of-State. He has also served as the President of IPA (Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance); as the Chairman of the Board of Governors at the Centre for Organisation Development in Hyderabad, a non-profit, scientific and industrial research organisation and a recognised doctoral research centre; and as the Chancellor of Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi, which has emerged as an outstanding institution of higher learning with distinct and focused academic programmes.
In 2017, Dr. Khorakiwala authored ‘Odyssey of Courage’, a book chronicling his entrepreneurial journey, and in 2018, he established the Wockhardt School of Courage, a unique mentorship programme for young and budding entrepreneurs, which is based on tenets, principles, and insights drawn from the book.
Mrs. TASNEEM MEHTA
Independent Director
Mrs. Tasneem Mehta has been a Director on the Board of Wockhardt since September 2014. She is Managing Trustee and Honorary Director, Dr. Bhau Daji Lad Museum, Mumbai, and a Former Vice Chairman and Mumbai Convenor, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage.
Mrs. Mehta is an art historian, conservationist, writer, curator, and designer, who has successfully pioneered the revival and restoration of several cultural sites in Mumbai. She has conceptualised, curated, designed, and implemented the restoration and revitalisation of the Museum and the ongoing exhibitions and outreach programmes. The Museum won UNESCO’s 2005 Asia Pacific ‘Award of Excellence’. The Museum has been nominated for several awards for its outstanding work. Mrs. Mehta is the Academic Chair of the Museum’s Diploma on Modern and Contemporary Art History and Curatorial Studies. She has also written and edited several books.
Mrs. Mehta is a member of International Council of the Museum of Modern Art, New York, and has served on several Indian museum boards and government committees for art and culture.
She was the CII Chair for Culture in 2011 and presented an exhibition of Indian Art at Davos the same year. She was selected as a Mumbai Hero by Mumbai Mirror and has received several awards. Harvard University included her in a list of 25 women who have made an outstanding public contribution in India.
Mr. VINESH KUMAR JAIRATH
Independent Director
Mr. Vinesh Kumar Jairath has been a Director on the Board of Wockhardt since November 2016. He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1982 and served in various important positions in Government of Maharashtra and Government of India till March 2008, when he took voluntary retirement. He has served as the Managing Director of SICOM and subsequently as Principal Secretary of Industries in the Government of Maharashtra until 2008.
He has over 25 years of experience in public administration, rural development, poverty alleviation, infrastructure planning and development and infrastructure financing, finance, industry, urban development, and environmental management, while occupying important positions in Government.
Mr. Jairath is at present a Director on the Board of Kirloskar Industries Limited, Kirloskar Oil Engines Limited, and an Independent Director on the Boards of The Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company Limited and The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Limited.
Mr. AKHILESH GUPTA
Independent Director
Mr. Akhilesh Gupta has been a Director on the Board of Wockhardt since August 2020. An Advanced Leadership Senior Fellow and Impact leader in residence at Harvard University, he also holds an MBA degree from the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University, and a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi.
Mr. Gupta served as the Chairman of Blackstone India till December 2014. Prior to Blackstone, he served as CEO – Corporate Development for Reliance Industries Limited from 1992 till 2005. Mr Gupta started his professional career as a management trainee at Hindustan Unilever.
Mr. Gupta currently serves on the Dean’s Leadership Council at Harvard Divinity School and on the Advisory Board of Human Flourishing Initiative at Harvard University. He has served on the Advisory Council of the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University (from 2014 to 2021) and on the Boards of several Blackstone portfolio companies, Larsen & Toubro, and Reliance Group companies.
MS. AMELIA FERNANDES
Independent Director
Ms. Fernandes is an independent journalist. She was Editor of India’s leading women’s magazine, Femina; Editor, features with a daily publication including Saturday Times; Editor, Special Projects at The Times of India and Editor of the Sunday edition of the DNA newspaper. She conceptualised and brought out Jade, a successful magazine for South India. She has also taught journalism at St Andrew’s College and at St Paul’s Institute of Communications. She is passionate about magazine journalism and has brought out as many as five publications on various subjects at one time.
She is currently Director of Literature Live! Mumbai’s only literary festival and considered one of the best in India. Literature Live! conducts literary events and workshops all through the year. She is also Director of Blank Slate Knowledge Foundation, which engages with students to promote and inculcate the joys of reading through extra- curricular activities.
Dr. HUZAIFA KHORAKIWALA
Executive Director
Dr. Huzaifa Khorakiwala holds a Master’s degree in Business Management from Yale University School of Management, USA. He joined the Company in July 1996 and has, over the years, led various Wockhardt businesses. He has been the Executive Director of the Company since April 2009. He also serves as Trustee and CEO of Wockhardt Foundation, whose flagship programme, Mobile 1000, runs over 175 Mobile Medical Units delivering free primary healthcare to rural and remote India. He is the Founder of The World Peacekeepers Movement, an online movement of over 1.5 million peacekeepers. Dr. Huzaifa is a recipient of 15 honorary doctorates, 2 D.Litts., and many other prestigious awards and titles including a Knighthood, which was bestowed on him by the Ecumenical, Medical, Humanitarian Order of Knights of St. John of Jerusalem (Knights of Charity).
Dr. MURTAZA KHORAKIWALA
Managing Director
Dr. Murtaza Khorakiwala represents a unique blend of scientific knowledge and business acumen. A graduate in Medicine from GS Medical College, Mumbai, India, and Master in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Illinois, USA, he has been Managing Director of Wockhardt Limited since April 2009.
Thinking out of the box, challenging assumptions, and innovation are some of the key principles that shape his strategic thought process. His young and dynamic leadership has become the ideal springboard for various corporate initiatives in creating a new Wockhardt.
He was the past Chairman of the Marketing Committee of the Bombay Management Association. In 2018, Dr. Murtaza was elected as President of the Bombay Management Association (BMA). He has also served as President of ICC India, International Chamber of Commerce, in the year 2020-21. In FY 2022-23, Dr. Murtaza served on the Management Committee of IMC.
Ms. ZAHABIYA KHORAKIWALA
Non-Executive Director
Ms. Zahabiya Khorakiwala is the Managing Director of Wockhardt Hospitals and is responsible for strategic decisions, identifying new business opportunities, and creating viable and sustainable business models to drive growth in the overall operations of the hospital chain. She is also a Director on the Board of RPG Life Sciences Limited.
Ms. Khorakiwala was schooled at the prestigious Aiglon College in Switzerland; did her graduation from New York University; and received an MBA degree from the Indian School of Business, Hyderabad.
Championed by robust Research and Development, Ms. Khorakiwala has instituted a cutting-edge Regenerative medicine business, the newest multi-disciplinary venture of the Wockhardt Group. Ms. Khorakiwala has also set up Wockhardt Global School, a state-of-the-art K-12 school with International Baccalaureate Continuum and CBSE programmes in Aurangabad.
