I am surprised at the the approach of Bloomberg who seem to somehow underestimate Rakesh Kapoor as a CEO succeeding Bart Becht at Reckitt Benckiser.
Normally this blog stays with stuff in the public domain out of respect for privacy. But I guess CEO's of major companies are public figures and this being a time of celebration, let me tell you a story about classmate Rakesh Kapoor from BITS Pilani .We were trying during 1976-77, to deal with the banning of student unions in India in the wake of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi having declared a state of emergency. In an extremely volatile political climate four members of the fledgling BITS Skit club sat together to devise a skit to depict the electoral situation. Within 15 minutes, Rakesh (then 17-18 years old) came up with the "Phantipu" concept. We produced a skit to hilarious results about Phantipu, our version of the grandson of the legendary Tipu Sultan based on Phantom the ghost who walks, who was infact contesting an election with the then dictatorial prime minister Indira Gandhi.
The skit went on to win the first prize among over 50 contesting teams at the time and no student got arrested. That was remarkable because 90% of every category at the cultural festival (western music,indian music,theatre or whatever) would get heckled and booed within the first 30 seconds. It's just an exuberant teenager thing, I now understand.The point is that at 17 years of age Rakesh could navigate sensitive political toes with an extremely sensitive topic at a volatile political time with outstanding success.
Over the years Rakesh has grown and developed from an extraordinary 17 year old undergrad. Being India born should serve to Rakesh's advantage as global emerging markets develop. I am sure there would be similar fun "achievements" from school days of Turkish origin Muhtar Kent of Coke or India born Indra Nooyi of Pepsi and Rakesh Kapoor should compare well with both Muhtar and Indrya as he takes Reckitt Benckiser to new heights.
Best of luck Rakesh!