Chris George: Boy businessman to tech tycoon

Chris George, 31, vice chairman and CEO, EBS Worldwide, used "creative destruction" to reinvent his business after the dot.com bust

At 16, most boys are interested in girls, and find the world of business boring. But Chris George and three of his friends at the Bhavan's Junior College in Mumbai were made of different stuff.

He may have been interested in 'figures,' but the kind that fascinated him were in mind-numbing account books and ledgers. George launched his first business at 16 (it was a formal company, with a proper registration, when he started an events management firm).

"We began organising college events — music festivals, rock shows, fashion shows, etc — but it soon morphed into something bigger," explains the entrepreneur, who now runs a Rs50-crore business, has over 200 people on his payroll, offices in India and the US, and shuttles times between Mumbai, New York and Los Angeles.

For George it has indeed been quite a journey over the last 15 years. The articulate and ambitious entrepreneur has been through the ups and downs of business — and technology cycles — but has figured out how to ride the crest of every wave he found himself on. At 31, he combines a boyish charm with infectious enthusiasm, especially about the prospects of continuing to do business in India.