Nusli Wadia Biography: Early Life and Career
Nusli Wadia, born in 1944, joined Bombay Dyeing in 1962, stopped its sale in 1971 and became chairman in 1977 3.
Nusli Wadia's early life
Nusli Wadia, born on 15 February 1944 and now 82, is chairman of the Wadia Group and of Bombay Dyeing 13. Nusli Neville Wadia was born in Bombay to the businessman Neville Wadia and Dina Wadia 3. On his father's side he belongs to the Parsi Wadia family; his paternal grandfather, Sir Ness Wadia, was a leading textile industrialist 3. His mother was the only child of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, and of Rattanbai Petit 13.
Education
He attended the Cathedral and John Connon School in Mumbai and was later educated at Rugby School in England 3. In a 2000 interview he recalled disliking school and life abroad in post-war England, where food was short 3.
Saving Bombay Dyeing
He joined Bombay Dyeing in 1962 as a trainee apprentice in its spinning mills and became joint managing director in 1970 3. In 1971 he learned that his father planned to sell the struggling company to R.P. Goenka and move the family to Switzerland 3. With help from his mother, sister, friends and his mentor J.R.D. Tata, he acquired 11% of the shares, persuaded employees to pool savings to buy more, and flew to London to convince his father not to sell 3. He succeeded his father as chairman in 1977 3.
Battles and setbacks
In 2016 he was removed from the boards of three Tata companies, including as an independent director of Tata Motors, and filed a defamation case against Ratan Tata and the Tata Group 13. He withdrew it in January 2020 after Tata said there had been no intention to defame him 3. The group's airline, Go First, filed for insolvency in May 2023 and was ordered into liquidation in January 2025 6.
Today
He remains chairman of the Wadia Group, whose largest listed holding is Britannia Industries 1.