He Is The Only Indian in Fortune's '2014's Top People in Business' List

MasterCard president and CEO, Ajay Singh Banga is the only Indian in Fortune's '2014's Top People in Business' list.

Mr Banga, who studied economics at Delhi University's St. Stephen's College and received his MBA from IIM, Ahmedabad ranked number 28 in the list. The Pune-born CEO spent 13 years of his working life with Nestle India before moving to PepsiCo, Citigroup and eventually MasterCard which he joined in 2009.

"Sometimes it's about being in the right place at the right time. For MasterCard, that very well could come in the form of Apple Pay, which may finally break the barrier between consumers and mobile payment. MasterCard and Banga could benefit from increased transactions using mobile phones," Fortune said.

The list was topped by Google CEO Larry Page.

The other Indian-origin person to make it to the list was Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella at number 38. Mr Nadella is an American citizen. He studied engineering at Manipal Institute of Technology in Karnataka, before moving to the US to pursue higher studies.

"Financial results, including 12-month and three-year growth in profits and revenues, figured prominently in our analysis. We also factored in company stock performance and total shareholder returns over the same periods. Nonfinancial elements, like business influence, leadership style, and strategic initiatives, played a part in our evaluation as well," Fortune said.

Apple CEO Tim Cook featured second in the rankings, followed by Gilead CEO John Martin, to round off the top three. The list featured the top 50 CEOs of 2014.