Former Mastercard Boss Ajay Banga Leaving Board for General Atlantic

Ajay Banga, who stepped down as CEO of Mastercard on Jan. 1 and will exit his post as executive chairman of the board on Dec. 31, is joining General Atlantic as vice chairman.

Starting Jan. 1, 2022, Banga will advise General Atlantic’s executive leaders and sector managers on the firm’s overall strategy and investment approach. He will also advise on strategic matters regarding General Atlantic’s portfolio of over 165 growth companies worldwide.

See also: Mastercard Executive Chairman Ajay Banga to Retire Dec 31

“Today’s entrepreneurs are currently building some of the most exciting solutions and companies in the financial, technology, healthcare and consumer sectors, and embedding in them new approaches to tackling some of the biggest societal and environmental issues of our time,” Banga said in a press release.

Aside from his new position, Banga will continue serving in his current role as an advisory board member for General Atlantic’s climate venture BeyondNetZero, which backs high-growth companies working on climate solutions.

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While at Mastercard, Banga spent 10 years as CEO, driving its transformation from a payments network for banks to a technology and data services firm that links people, government, and businesses to the digital economy. Under his leadership, Mastercard gained a foothold in new markets worldwide, tripled revenue, and provided oversight on a market cap increase of 16X.

Banga is passionate about financial inclusion, and it’s an area Banga will target in his new role at General Atlantic, CEO Bill Ford told the Wall Street Journal.

“He’s incredibly global, has a deep understanding of emerging markets and knows financial technology, which is a big area of investment for us,” said Ford, who has known Banga for two decades.

Prior to joining Mastercard, Banga worked for nearly 13 years at Citigroup, serving in numerous positions including CEO of Asia Pacific for the bank. His career began in India at a Nestlé SA subsidiary.

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Founded in 1980, General Atlantic is headquartered in New York and has offices worldwide. The company specializes in backing in fast-growing companies in the consumer, financial-services, healthcare, life-sciences and technology sectors.