Dinesh Paliwal
| Dinesh Paliwal | |
|---|---|
| Born | 17 December 1957 India |
| Nationality | Indian-born; naturalised citizen of the United States |
| Education | St. John's College, University of Agra (physics and chemistry, 1973 to 1976); Institute of Technology, Roorkee (master's degree in paper science and technology, 1979) |
| Occupation | Business executive |
| Employer | Harman International Industries; ABB |
| Title | Former chairman and chief executive officer, Harman International Industries |
| Known for | Chairman and CEO of Harman International Industries, 2007 to 2020 |
Dinesh Paliwal (born 17 December 1957) is an Indian-born business executive. He served as president, chairman and chief executive officer of Harman International Industries, an American audio electronics company, from 2007 until April 2020. Before joining Harman, Paliwal spent 17 years at the engineering group ABB, where he rose to chairman and CEO of ABB North America. He later became a naturalised citizen of the United States.
Early life and education
Paliwal studied physics and chemistry at St. John's College, part of the University of Agra in India, from 1973 to 1976. In 1979 he completed a master's degree in paper science and technology at the Institute of Technology in Roorkee, India.
Career
Early career, 1979 to 1990
Paliwal began his career as a supervisor for manufacturing and quality at Ballarpur Industries in India. In 1979 he moved to the United States to work in research at Miami University in Ohio. From 1985 he worked as a systems engineer and project manager at Accuray Corporation in Columbus, Ohio. In 1986 he became a project manager at Combustion Engineering in Singapore, and from 1988 to 1990 he was national sales manager for Combustion Engineering in Australia.
ABB, 1990 to 2007
In 1990 Paliwal joined ABB as director of marketing and sales for the Asia-Pacific region. In 2001 he became the youngest member of the company's group executive committee. In 2004 Paliwal was named chairman and CEO of ABB North America, and in 2006 he became president of global markets and technology for the United States. In total, Paliwal worked at ABB for 17 years.
Harman International, 2007 to 2020
Paliwal was hired as president and CEO of Harman International Industries in July 2007. His hiring coincided with an attempted buyout of Harman by KKR and Goldman Sachs Alternatives that would have delisted the company from the New York Stock Exchange; KKR withdrew from the deal in September 2007. On 1 July 2008, Paliwal succeeded the company's founder, Sidney Harman, as chairman of the board.
According to the dossier drawn from Harman's company history, revenue at Harman tripled over the decade under Paliwal's leadership. In November 2016, during Paliwal's tenure, Harman agreed to be acquired by Samsung Electronics for 8 billion US dollars; shareholders approved the acquisition in February 2017 and it closed in March 2017, with Harman continuing to operate as an independent subsidiary of Samsung. Paliwal remained chairman and CEO through the transition. In April 2020, after 13 years leading the company, Paliwal was succeeded as CEO by Michael Mauser.
While at Harman, Paliwal was in 2016 a member of the U.S.-India Business CEO Forum, the U.S.-India Business Council and the Business Roundtable. Paliwal also became a naturalised citizen of the United States. In June 2020, writing in the Indian newspaper The Economic Times, Paliwal criticised the immigration policy of US President Donald Trump.
Personal life
Paliwal is married to Ila Paliwal, a singer and producer, and the couple have two adult children.
Awards and recognition
In 2008 the China Business Review described Paliwal as an "ABB veteran". Ernst & Young named him Entrepreneur of the Year for the New York region in 2010, and Fortune included Paliwal on its Business Person of the Year list in 2014. In 2016 the non-profit organisation Breakthrough honoured Paliwal for his work advancing the interests of women.
Assessment
Paliwal's career traces a path from a manufacturing supervisor role in India to the leadership of a major American electronics company, by way of 17 years in senior roles at ABB. His 13-year tenure at Harman, the longest in the company's modern history according to the dossier, coincided with reported revenue growth and the company's transition into an independent Samsung subsidiary in 2017, which he oversaw as chairman and CEO. The available sourcing documents these achievements and industry recognition but contains little independent scrutiny of his record, and no substantive criticism of his leadership beyond his own public remarks on immigration policy.