Rank 2: A.M. Naik, Larsen & Toubro
Anil Manibhai Naik, Chairman of Larsen & Toubro since 2003, loves to talk about how he beat IITians when he was starting out. In 1963, as a fresh engineering graduate of Birla Vishwakarma Mahavidyalaya, Gujarat, the odds of him scoring even an interview at L&T were zero, because the company hired only alumni of the Indian Institutes of Technology. However, after a stint at Nestler Boilers, Naik did land a job at L&T in 1965. And by April 1966, he was ahead of IITians who graduated when he did.