Management Masters: Vodafone CEO Arun Sarin quits on a high; A Profile

Born and educated in India, Mr Sarin is credited with the turn-around of British icon Vodafone, and making Indias largest foreign direct investment when it bought out stake in Hutch last year. MBAUniverse.com profiles the man and his long inspirational journey: from the classrooms of IIT-Kharagpur to becoming one of the top corporate leaders of the world.

Mr Arun Sarin, aged 53, graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur with a degree in Engineering in 1975. In 1978 he gained a MS in Engineering and a MBA from the University of California, at Berkeley.

He started his career as a management consultant before moving, in 1984, to Pacific Telesis Group in San Francisco. Commencing in corporate development, he was instrumental in the company acquiring the first cellular licences in the US as well as winning the first cellular licence in Germany and a PCN licence in the UK. He was subsequently appointed CFO and Chief Strategy Officer at Pacific Bell, before moving on to become Vice President and General Manager, San Francisco Bay Area Telephone Company, a Pacific Bell division with 12,000 employees.

Following the demerger from Pacific Telesis of the mobile and paging businesses to form AirTouch Communications, Arun was appointed Senior Vice President Corporate Strategy and Development where he developed and implemented a growth strategy encompassing partnerships and acquisitions, which included the merger with US Wests wireless business.

On becoming President and CEO, AirTouch International, Mr Sarin was responsible for the acquisition of wireless licences in several overseas territories and establishing the management teams of these new ventures.

He then became President of AirTouch Communications where he was responsible for managing the cellular and paging operations in 14 countries and was a key negotiator in the successful merger of AirTouch with Vodafone Group Plc. Within the combined business, Vodafone AirTouch Plc, he was appointed CEO US/Asia Pacific region, managing the Groups operations in the US, Asia and Australasia. In addition, he headed the global mobile internet division, responsible for the introduction of wireless internet services.

In 2000, with the successful merger of Vodafone AirTouchs US businesses with those of Bell Atlantic and GTE to form Verizon Wireless, Arun, whilst maintaining a non-executive directorship of Vodafone AirTouch Plc, became CEO of Infospace, a provider of mobile internet content and directory services.

In 2001 he joined Accel-KKR Telecom, a telecom investment and management business, where he evaluated numerous opportunities in the telecommunications industry around the world and oversaw the acquisition of Bell Canadas Yellow Pages business.

In April 2003 he became CEO designate of Vodafone Group Plc and assumed the post of Chief Executive on July 30, 2003.

Vodafones entry into India was driven by Mr Sarin. In October 2005, Vodafone made its foray into India by picking up a 10% stake in Bharti for $1.5 billion. But it was last year that Mr Sarin achieved his ambition of gaining control over an India company. Despite severe criticism and near shareholders revolt, Mr Sarin held on and went all out to acquire a controlling stake in Hutchison Essar in February 2007, a move that marked a shift in the companys strategy to expand into high-growth emerging markets.

On his departure from the company, Vodafone said, Arun Sarin became Chief Executive of Vodafone in July 2003 and over the last five years led the company through a period of significant change, both strategic and organisational. Under his leadership Vodafone has developed and implemented a new strategy to become a total communications company, which is already delivering results. As part of its strategy Vodafone has also expanded into emerging markets including Romania, Czech Republic, Turkey, and most recently, India where Arun Sarin led the acquisition of Hutchison Essar, which is the largest foreign investment made in the country.

During his time as Chief Executive the Company has also grown its proportionate customer base from 120 million to more than 260 million globally and over this period Vodafone has consistently delivered strong results. Returns to shareholders over this period have also been very positive with dividends increasing of more than 400%. He has also built a new senior management team and taken the lead on major industry issues, including mobile broadband and internet services.

Commenting on Mr Sarins contributions, Chairman Sir John Bond said: Arun has done a tremendous job as Chief Executive. He has led the Company with distinction and navigated Vodafone through a period of rapid change. He has developed a new strategy for the business and significantly expanded our footprint in emerging markets. The acquisition in India was very well timed and executed.

Humble and rooted Mr Sarin said: It has been a privilege to lead Vodafone for the last five years and to have been involved in the company for such a long time. I feel that I have accomplished what I set out to achieve, particularly in developing and implementing a new strategy.

While there are no confirmations yet, its rumored that Mr Sarin will be joining a Private Equity player where he can put his business understanding to great use.