John Clipperton and Kumar Mangalam Birla: Difference between pages

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| name = Kumar Mangalam Birla

'''John Clipperton''' was an [[England|English]] [[pirate]] and [[privateer]] who fought for the [[Spain|Spanish]] in the 18th century. He used [[Clipperton Island]] (discovered in 1521 by [[Ferdinand Magellan]]) as his base for his raids on shipping...

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John Clipperton was born in Yarmouth / Norfolk into a family of seafarers. Since his younger days he went to sea, and he sailed all seas of Europe, including one trip to the West Indies and one around the world. They called him an able pilot and seaman, but also a man with faults. He was a blunt, rough, free-spoken sailor. He definitely was no gentleman, but at times tried to be one. Rash fits of bad temper would befall him, but he was soon appeased. Then he would be ready to repair any injustice that he had committed in the heat of anger – at least if this was possible.

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Might we speculate that he was a rather small guy? It is a strategy for less strong men to go berserk with anger when they cannot stand in a clean fight with larger opponents. Might we call him a fast drinker? Brandy and alcohol was of much importance to those men. Regarding the boredom at sea, men without patience would be tempted to pour in a share of rum all at once. The best known german pirate, Klaus Störtebeker (Stoertebeker), received his name for this special drinking habit.

| birth_date = [[June 14]], [[1967]]

The name was Clipperton. In 1704 he sailed with the expedition of captain William Dampier. This captain but called him Clippington. Might we speculate again, that Dampier would rather have called him Clippingtongue? With the youthful and angry mate on board, the situation on the vessel must have soon escalated. But no historical record of this seems to have survived. All we know now, before the resurrected man may tell the whole tale of this tragedy, is that he separated from that expedition in 1704. We might speculate that Dampier had appointed Clipperton as a captain of one of the spanish ships taken by this british bucaneer expedition as a prise.

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The most important moment in Clippertons life came then, as he (re-)discovered a forgotten island. Clipperton Island had been first sighted by Magellan. But today, this puny remote reef island in the Pacific Ocean is named after Clipperton. Allegedly Clipperton used this island as a pirate hideout. Or did he only pass by then with his own vessel? The French who own this island today won’t hear this name, they call the Island ‚Passion Island‘ and say that a frenchman really discovered it. Why not call it ‚Mermaid Island‘, and thus settle the dispute by attributing a brand new name to this remote place?

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In those days the island must have been full of vegetation, this is what later sources confirm. The vegetation on that reef was later all washed away by a floodwave and greedy crabs. We may also hold a strong El Niño event (a warm sea current before Chile) responsible, leading to an unusual drought.

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This first voyage of Clipperton ended not well. He was taken captive by the spaniards. The Marquis of Villa Roche, who later governed Panama, treated him with much indifference. When he came home 1712 after years of captivity, he was very desperate.

| occupation = [[Chairperson|Chairman]], [[Aditya Birla Group]]

Much more is known about Clipperton‘s second voyage to the Pacific Ocean. And since a description can be found at the internet at the site of the Clipperton clan, a lot of what is known is omitted here. In 1719 Clipperton had already become an able and diligent captain – at least this is what Kerr and other sources say. But still he was unable to control his rash temper. British merchants had financed a pirate expedition that should lead Clipperton with his vessel Success to the South Seas, under the command of George Shelvocke. Clipperton left a family in Ireland. He and the expedition went to Flanders, to buy brandy and other alcohol that was cheaper there than in Britain. But all kinds of troubles erupted then, and Shelvocke lost his command to Clipperton. This was something that the hot-blooded pirate Shelvocke could not easily stand. And by bad luck or bad will, the two ships got separated, until they much later met again in the South Sea.

| networth = {{gain}} $6.8 billion [[USD]], [http://www.forbes.com/business/global/2006/1127/039.html forbes]

We find the older Clipperton as a man with a diligent noble mind and a sharp sense of what has to be done. How come then, that he had these emotional troubles? Was he a man who had to live on top of a volcano of his emotions, who would occasionally erupt? Sure. But was he also a man who had taken up the habit of allowing himself fits of bad temper, at times when this would suit him? Both of this must have been true. Clipperton definitely knew that his profession of pirate was not a noble one. But he tried to make the best of it, while at the same time still keeping up the anger that a barbarian at seas must show at times. He was not the brightest mind of the South Sea, though, and a true citizen of Old Blighty, his home country. But visibly, his efforts were not to serve the crown but to first make good for the expenses of the merchants who had paid the whole expedition. He moreless suceeded with this.

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Clipperton sailed with Lady Luck around South America. He came to raid spanish ships, from small coastal travellers to the Manila boats, and this is what he did. Weakened by disease at first, he later had much success and even managed to capture his old enemy the Marquis of Villa Roche, whom he treated with much respect. Later, his travels carried him to Mexico and to Macao, where he took residence. His health troubles made it impossible for him to continue this privately financed pirate expedition.

The ship was sold then, and Clipperton was only passenger as the Success then sailed to Batavia in Dutch Indonesia. As he returned to his family in Galway in Ireland his state of health was very bad. He did not live there for another week, and died 1722.

'''Kumar Mangalam Birla''' ([[June 14]], [[1967]]), is among the richest persons in India and the eighth youngest billionaire outside India according to the [[Fortune (magazine)|Fortune]] magazine.

[[Category:Privateers|Clipperton]]

[[Category:English pirates|Clipperton]]

Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla is the Chairman of the [[Aditya Birla Group]], which is among India's largest business houses. Among its major companies in India are [[Grasim]], [[Hindalco]], [[UltraTech Cement]], [[Aditya Birla Nuvo]] and [[Idea Cellular]]. Its JVs include [[Birla Sun Life]] (Financial Services) and [[Birla NGK]] (Insulators). While Mr. Birla is the Chairman of all of the Group's blue-chip companies in India, he serves as a Director on the Board of the Group's International Companies spanning Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Egypt. The Group's operations extend to Canada, China, Laos, USA, U.K. and Australia as well.

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==Positions Held==

Mr. Birla has held and continues to hold several key and responsible positions on various regulatory and professional Boards, such as:

* Director of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India from 27 June 2006

* Chairman of the Advisory Committee constituted by the Ministry of Company Affairs for 2006 and 2007

* Member of The Prime Minister of India's Advisory Council on Trade and Industry

* Chairman of the Board of Trade reconstituted by the Union Minister of Commerce and Industry

* Chairman of the National Safety Council

* Member of The Government of Uttar Pradesh's High Powered Investment Task Force

* Member of The National Council of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII)

* Member of the Apex Advisory Council of The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India

* On The Advisory Council for the Centre for Corporate Governance

* Member of the Organising Committee for Commonwealth Games, Delhi 2010

==Time-Line==

In the ten years that he has been at the helm of the Aditya Birla Group, he has won recognition for his contribution to Industry and to professionalising management. An indicative list is as follows :

'''2006'''

* Represented India at the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur Award in Monte Carlo, Monaco in June 2006, where he was inducted as a Member of the Ernst & Young World Entrepreneur of the Year Academy

'''2005'''

* Awarded "The Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year —- India"

* Named "Young Super Performer in the CEO Category" by Business Today

* [[PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry]] — Udyog Ratna

'''2004'''

* Chosen by the World Economic Forum (Davos) as one of the Young Global Leaders. In this capacity, Mr. Birla is committed to share his knowledge, expertise and energy over the next five years to usher in a future of "hope, progress and positive change"

* Drawn from a pool of 8000 candidates from around the world, of whom 600 were short listed and 237 finally named, the Young Global Leaders have been hand picked by a Nomination Committee of 28 global media leaders

* In recognition of his exemplary contribution to Indian business, The Banaras Hindu University awarded the D.Litt (Honoris Causa) Degree to Mr. Birla

* To salute his entrepreneurial excellence and exemplary contribution to Indian business, the All India Management Association conferred its "Honorary Fellowship" on him

'''2003'''

* Named "The Business Leader of the Year" by The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence

* Close on the heels of the Economic Times' "The Business Leader of the Year" Award, he was selected Business India's "Business Man of the Year — 2003". This is indeed historic, as no Chairman / CEO has ever won both these prestigious awards in a single year

* The National Institute of Industrial Engineering's (NITIE) "The Lakshya — Business Visionary Award"

* The Indo-American Society's "Young Achiever Award"

* "The 2003 Institute of Marketing and Management Award for Excellence".

'''2002'''

* The Qimpro Foundation's "Qimpro Platinum Standard Award"

* The Amity Business School Award for "Excellence in Business"

* Ranked among the first five Asian business leaders for the CNBC/INSEAD sponsored "Asian Business Leader Award 2002"

'''2001'''

* The Rajiv Gandhi Award for "Business Excellence and his contribution to the country" by the Mumbai Pradesh Youth Congress

* The National HRD Network (Pune) — "The Outstanding Business Man of the Year"

* The Giants International Award for "Business Excellence and his contribution to the Industry"

* The Institute of Directors' "Golden Peacock National Award for Business Leadership"

* The Rotary Club's "Award for Vocational Excellence"

'''2000'''

* The Bombay Management Association honoured Mr. Birla as "The Management Man of the Year 1999-2000"

'''1999'''

* The Lions Clubs International's "The Achiever of the Millennium"

* The Rotary Club of Ahmedabad's "The Legend of the Corporate World"

'''1998'''

* Mr. Birla was the first and only industrialist to have been appointed as a public nominee on the Governing Board of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) by the Finance Ministry. He served as the Chairman of SEBI's 17-Member Committee on Corporate Governance constituted in mid-1999, and as Chairman of SEBI's Committee on Insider Trading

* The Kumar Mangalam Birla Report on Corporate Governance became the cornerstone of Corporate Governance practices in India

* Recipient of the Rotary Club's "Award for Vocational Excellence"

The media too have showered accolades on Mr. Birla. Between 1997 to-date, the NDTV, Star Plus "India Business Week" designated him as "The Businessman of the Year". Global Finance has cited him among the 10 Super Stars of Corporate Finance. Business World ranked him among the top 10 of India's most admired and respected CEOs and the top CEO of the coming millennium, and Hindustan Times named him as "The Businessman of the Year" as well.

Born on June 14, 1967, Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla was raised in Calcutta and Mumbai. He is a Chartered Accountant and earned an MBA (Masters in Business Administration) from the [[London Business School]], London. Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla and his wife, Neerja have three children, Ananyashree, Aryaman Vikram and Advaitesha.

==See also==

* [[Birla family]]

* [[Birla Foundation]]

* [[List of billionaires]]

==External links==

* [http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/10/2004/LIR.jhtml?passListId=10&passYear=2004&passListType=Person&uniqueId=2X62&datatype=Person Forbes.com: Forbes World's Richest People]

* [http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/sep/19spec.htm Rediff's Biography on Birla]

* [http://www.adityabirla.com/media/press_reports/20030916_heir_raising.htm]

[[Category:Indian businesspeople|Birla, Kumar Mangalam]]