Full Name: Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan (Venkat)
Position: CEO of AngloGold Ashanti since May 2013
Main Activity of the Company: Gold mining
Date and Place of Birth: March 29, 1965, Chennai (formerly Madras), India, where I grew up
Education: I was educated at Don Bosco Matriculation School (a Christian missionary school in India); did my university and chartered accountancy studies – BCom and ACA (ICAI) – simultaneously in Chennai; and was sent to London initially for work experience and employment
First Job: Articled clerk, Fraser & Ross, Chennai, which became Deloitte. I then moved over to Deloitte in London, where I gained invaluable experience in accounting and, importantly, restructuring, turnaround and workout experience. Ashanti was one such project where I was brought in to restructure the finances, after the hedgebook had turned bad. I was in Ghana for four years and then moved down to South Africa
Size of Your Pay Packet: It is still being discussed. I am not motivated by money
Value of Assets under Your Control: AngloGold Ashanti is the third-largest gold producer in the world. During the past year, AngloGold Ashanti’s market capitalisation fell from $18-billion to its current level of $8-billion, which is largely a function of gold price volatility
Number of People under Your Leadership: 60 000
Management Style: I value the team and I am highly consultative but, ultimately, very decisive
Personal Best Achievement: Removing Ashanti’s legacy hedgebook, and then doing the same at AngloGold Ashanti. I do not like smooth-sailing jobs. I like to be in the thick of a storm and try to see the ship through the storm, with the team intact
Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: My father, my mother, my sister and my wife
Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Nelson Mandela. I saw him at Sandton Intercontinental when I was still at Ashanti. My wife and I were just checking out of the hotel, en route from a Geita board meeting, when he walked through and looked at us and smiled. We did not get a chance to actually meet him, but my wife shook his hand and, on that day, something in me told me we were destined for South Africa
Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Too many to single out any one
Philosophy of Life: Be honest, be direct and talk from the heart
Biggest Ever Opportunity: This one
Biggest Ever Disappointment: Not moving faster to remove AngloGold Ashanti’s legacy hedgebook when I joined, owing to shareholding constraints at that time
Hope for the Future: That we live to see a much brighter South Africa, to the envy of the outside world. I believe the country has huge potential
Favourite Reading: Short books with a big font
Favourite TV Programme: Suits – I think it’s brilliant
Favourite Food/Drink: Indian food, all the time, and salted lassi
Favourite Music: Bollywood music
Favourite Sport: Cricket
Hobbies: Watching Bollywood movies and action movies. I also quite like retreating to Umhlanga, which reminds me of my childhood days in Chennai
Car: A four-year-old Mitsubishi Pajero – I do not like flashy cars
Pets: No pets. My wife says she has three – our two children and myself, and that is quite enough
Miscellaneous Dislikes: When people are not straight and direct; you are far better off giving someone your view in the most constructive manner
Married: To AngloGold Ashanti!! Hamsa
Children: Two sons, Shyamkumar, a second-year BCom student at the University of the Witwatersrand, and Prashant, who is a year away from matric
Clubs: None