Venky Mysore

Some Lesser Known Facts About Venky Mysore

• Venky Mysore is an Indian-born American businessman. He works as the CEO at Red Chillies Entertainment and holds the positions of CEO and Managing Director of the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR), an Indian Premier League (IPL) team.

• He was born in a conservative middle-class South Indian family. ^[4]The Telegraph

• He was a talented cricketer with dreams of playing for his country; however, when he went to the United States for further studies, academic pursuits became more important. He showcased his cricket skills at a high level for the University of Madras before he moved to the United States.

• While studying at a college in Coimbatore, Venky Mysore played cricket at the district level and achieved success by winning the South Zone Championship. During this time, he had the opportunity to play cricket alongside notable figures such as Krishnamachari Srikkanth, W. V. Raman, and Laxman Sivaramakrishnan.

• From 2002 to 2003, he led the Bangalore chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce. With over 25 years of experience in the insurance industry, he has worked in North America and played a role in establishing operations in Asia.

• He served at MetLife for almost 21 years, leaving in 2010 as the managing director of PNB MetLife India Insurance Company Limited. Until 2 January 2007, he held the position of country head for Sun Life Financial Inc’s India Division and was the vice president of Sun Life Financial Asia.

• He worked as a non-executive and non-independent director on the board of Gujarat Sidhee Cement Ltd.

• He has also served as a director at Birla Sun Life Insurance Company Limited and as an independent non-executive director at Oberoi Realty Limited.

• Venky Mysore has been serving as the CEO and Managing Director of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) since 2010.

• He played a crucial role in the acquisition of the Trinbago Knight Riders (formerly Trinidad and Tobago Red Steels) franchise in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, along with business associates Juhi Chawla and Jay Mehta.

• He is often referred to as Shah Rukh Khan’s right-hand man. ^[5]DNA India

  

• In 2013, Venky Mysore assumed the role of CEO at Red Chillies Entertainment, the film production company owned by Shah Rukh Khan. Since assuming this position, he has been actively working on reshaping the business model of Red Chillies to produce films and content for various platforms.

• In 2022, Shreyas Iyer of Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) raised concerns, stating that Venky Mysore, the CEO of KKR, was interfering in team selection. This led to criticism from former players who accused Mysore of meddling in cricket matters. However, Shreyas Iyer later clarified that it was a misunderstanding. When he mentioned the CEO’s name, he intended to highlight Mysore’s positive role in consoling players who were not selected, recognizing the emotional difficulty they experienced. ^[6]The Quint

• In 2023, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) secured Australian cricketer Mitchell Starc in the IPL auction for a record-breaking Rs 24.75 crore, making him the costliest player in IPL history. Venky Mysore, the CEO of the team, defended the high price, stating that it was justified because Starc was a preferred player due to his exceptional skills. ^[7]DNA