Xerxes Desai

Xerxes Desai was the first managing director of Titan Company, an Indian watchmaking company, and played an instrumental role in laying the foundation of the company.[2]

Xerxes Desai
Born1937
DiedJune 27, 2016
Alma materElphinstone College
Oxford University
Spouse(s)Rajni Desai[1]

Biography

Desai was a graduate of Elphinstone College (Mumbai University) and Oxford University.[3]

Desai joined Tata Administrative Services in 1961 after graduation, working at several of their companies.[4] He founded Titan as a joint venture with J. R. D. Tata in 1986, with support from the Tamil Nadu Industrial Development Corporation.[5] He had suggested the idea of a watchmaking company to Tata in the 1970s, who liked it, but bureaucratic hassles took time till the company was opened in 1986 in Hosur.[6][7][8]

In 1994, Desai challenged engineers at Titan to design the world's thinnest watch, with a movement 1.15mm thick inside a 3.5mm case.[9] The watch, called the Titan Edge was introduced in 2002.[10]

After Titan's success, Desai founded Tanishq, a jewelry brand. He had innovative ideas like asking people in Bangalore to get their jewelry appraised in 1999. The jewelry business grew over time, after a slow start.[11]

Desai retired in 2002, and was succeeded by his protégé Bhaskar Bhat.[12]

Post retirement

Desai was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award by the National Institute of Design during its 4th Design Excellence Awards in 2006.[13]

Post retirement, Desai was a part of the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) initiative by Nandan Nilekani.[14]

Death

Desai died from illness in Bangalore, where he had lived for 30 years, on June 27, 2016, at the age of 79.[15]

References
  1. "Titan founder Xerxes Desai dies of dengue in Bengaluru". OneIndia.
  2. Tandon, Suneera (2016-06-09). "Xerxes Desai: The timekeeper". Live Mint. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  3. Tandon, Suneera (2016-06-09). "Xerxes Desai: The timekeeper". Live Mint. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  4. "Titan's founding MD Xerxes Desai passes away at 79". The Economic Times. Retrieved 2020-05-26.
  5. "Titan's founding MD Xerxes Desai dies at 79 - Times of India". Times of India. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  6. "Xerxes Desai: The man behind Titan's success". Rediff. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  7. "Xerxes Desai, the Titan who changed the way Indians kept time dies". The Financial Express. 2016-06-29. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  8. Ghoshal, S. (2002-03-04). "The Indian Watch Industry: Titanic Changes". World Class In India. Penguin Books Limited. ISBN 9789351180272.
  9. Satpathy, Anurag; Agrawal, Arjun; Mohapatra, Sanjay (2015-11-16). Innovation Strategy for Enterprises in Emerging Economies: Case Studies for the Digital Age. Emerald Group Publishing. pp. 115–117. ISBN 9781785604805.
  10. Narang, Rajiv; Devaiah, Devika (2014-01-03). Orbit-Shifting Innovation: The Dynamics of Ideas that Create History. Kogan Page Publishers. pp. 165–166. ISBN 9780749468767.
  11. Krishnan, Raghu. "Xerxes Desai: The titan behind the timekeeper". Business Standard. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  12. "A Titan Departs". Business Today Archives. 2002-04-14. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  13. "Xerxes at NID Awards, 2006". www.indiatodayimages.com. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  14. "Nandan, Rohini Nilekani gift IIHS Rs 50 cr - Indian Express". archive.indianexpress.com. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
  15. Skariachan, Dhanya (2016-06-27). "Xerxes Desai, founder of Titan, dies". Live Mint. Retrieved 2016-07-03.
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