Bali Padda
Born1956 (age 67–68)[1]
Punjab, India
NationalityBritish
Known forThe Timberland Company (2001–2002)
The Lego Group (2002–2017)
TitlePresident of The Lego Group
TermJanuary 2017 - October 2017
PredecessorJørgen Vig Knudstorp
SuccessorNiels Christiansen

Bali Padda is a British-Indian businessman who briefly served as the CEO of The Lego Group.[2] Prior to this role, he was Lego's chief operations officer. He inherited the role of CEO from Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, who stepped down to lead the LEGO Brand Group in January 2017.[1][3] He was the first non-Danish top-level executive to run the 84-year-old company.[4][5]

Early life

Born in Punjab, Padda's parents migrated to the UK from Mumbai in search of a better life when he was 12. He dropped out of school and took up odd jobs at the age of 16.[6]

He joined the LEGO Group in 2002 as Head of Market Oriented Packing based in Enfield, USA.[4] Bali Padda came from a Customer Service & Supplier Relations background with GlaxoWellcome and Timberland before joining the LEGO Group.[4][7]

Eight months after becoming CEO of LEGO, it was announced in August 2017, that Padda would be replaced by Niels Christiansen, effective from October 2017. The replacement was due to Padda's age.[8]

References

  1. ^ a b Trangbæk, Roar Rude (6 December 2016). "Bali Padda Appointed New CEO of the LEGO Group". Lego.com. LEGO Group. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  2. ^ Monaghan, Angela (10 August 2017). "Lego replaces British chief after just eight months at helm". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 5 September 2017. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  3. ^ Pedersen, Signe Ferslev (6 December 2016). "Knudstorp stopping as CEO of LEGO". Business.dk (in Danish). Berlingske Media. Archived from the original on 6 December 2016. Retrieved 6 December 2016.
  4. ^ a b c Sommer, Mathias (6 December 2016). "Portrait LEGO's New Man: Bali Padda Have to Fight Alibaba For the Asian Market". dr.dk (in Danish). Danmarks Radio. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  5. ^ Børjesen, Jesper Rise (6 December 2016). "Bali Padda First Non-Dane to Be Head of LEGO". ekstrabladet.dk (in Danish). JP/Politikens Hus A/S. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  6. ^ "Punjabi-Brit Bali Padda Appointed Lego's New CEO". Desibuzz. 1 April 2017. Archived from the original on 11 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
  7. ^ Klausen, Gitte. "Bali Padda". lego.com. LEGO Group. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  8. ^ Nygaard, Laura Rode (10 August 2017). "LEGO's CEO Done After Only Eight Months - Dane to become new CEO". BT (in Danish). Berlingske Media A/S. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 16 January 2018.


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