Sashidhar Jagdishan will be the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the HDFC Bank, replacing the private lender’s long-serving leader Aditya Puri.
The leadership change in the HDFC bank was one of the most watched events in the industry. And interestingly, it unfolded as the bank wished. For, Sashidhar Jagdishan, though initially not, was the first choice of Aditya Puri, under whose stewardship the bank had grown
Jagdishan, who has been with the lender for about 25 years, wasn’t the top choice of the bank till the time. The name of Paresh Sukthankar reported figured top as Puri’s successor at one point. But, post his exit in August, 2018, Jagdishan’s name came up for the top job.
The bank had sent a list of three names to the RBI early this year. But the central bank delayed the process as it was wary following Yes Bank development.
The HDFC saw a series of senior-level exits from the bank sine FY17. The bank was skeptical that an outsider CEO would also have a new team and many of those who built the HDFC bank legacy over the last two decades won’t be around.
Puri, in the past, has expressed his interest to see an insider to succeed him in the bank. “Our potential successor has been with us for 25 years, my successor was always in place at least in my mind. It is now for the RBI to decide what has been given to them,” he had said.
And the central bank decided what was in his mind!
