Ajay Banga, Biden's Pick for World Bank Leader, Is Former MasterCard CEO

President Joe Biden has just announced his nomination for the next World Bank President, Ajay Banga. World Bank's previous leader, David Malpass, is resigning one year early in what would have been a five-year term. Who is the potential new leader, how's he qualified to lead the World Bank, and how much is Ajay Banga's net worth?

Banga is an Indian-American executive who is currently vice chairman at General Atlantic. He also spent about a decade as the chief executive of MasterCard, and previously worked in various positions with Nestle and then PepsiCo.

Banga is clearly a very wealthy man, having been in the top executive position at MasterCard for a decade. Banga's net worth ist known exactly, although Benzinga estimated his worth at $458 million as of 2021 based on shares of MasterCard he owned and public salary information.

Banga was born and educated in India and started his business career in 1981 with Nestle. He later worked at PepsiCo and was involved in launching its international food franchises in India.

Some of Banga's salary and compensation information is provided on Benzinga for the final several years of his tenure as chief executive at MasterCard. His total compensation in 2020 was reportedly $27.774 million, including base salary, stock awards, and other forms of compensation. He earned $1.25 million in annual base salary.

Here's a look at Banga's total compensation as well as stock awards for three years while he was CEO:

• 2018: $20.38 million total, $6.75 million stock awards
• 2019: $23.25 million total; $8.65 million stock awards
• 2020: $27.77 million total; $19.6 million stock awards

On Feb. 23, 2023, President Biden announced that he nominated Banga to serve as the next President of the World Bank. The organization that eventually became the World Bank was founded in 1944, initially to help countries rebuild following World War II. The organization has shifted somewhat to focus on developments such as infrastructure to help strengthen nations.

The World Bank includes 187 nations, and their role is largely to lend money to developing nations in order to reduce poverty. The U.S. is the largest shareholder of the organization and traditionally appoints the president (Malpass was appointed by former President Trump).

Biden stated that Banga is “uniquely equipped to lead the World Bank at this critical moment in history.” Biden has said that climate change is a key factor in selecting a new World Bank president. Malpass has been largely praised for his handling of issues stemming from the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but also did not affirm the climate change premise that fossil fuels are harming the planet.

The U.S. climate envoy, John Kerry, approved of Banga as the World Bank president based on his climate credentials. Kerry said that Banga “has proven his ability as a manager of large institutions and understands investment and the mobilization of capital to power the green transition.”

Banga is married to his wife, Ritu Banga. They are the parents of two daughters.