McCombs Alum CEO...at Age 22

There is little doubt that an education at the McCombs School can help you get to the top. But at 22?

At the ripe old age of 22, Siddharth Reddy, BBA ’05, was recently named CEO of Country Club India Ltd., a company his family started in 1989 that now employs about 2,000 people.

“I really enjoy working with employees that are older than me,” says Reddy, now 23 years old. “It is a tremendous feeling to be surrounded by people who know more than you in any particular field.”

Country Club India (www.countryclubindialtd.com), based in Hyderabad, India, runs family recreation clubs that offer workout facilities, swimming, tennis and entertainment. After starting with one club, today the company owns 17 properties across India and is worth more than $100 million.

Since Reddy became CEO, Country Club India has increased its properties holdings by 52 percent, and its share price has skyrocketed. He also oversaw the creation of two new divisions, including a lifestyle magazine called “The Update” and a franchising division, which oversees the expansion of properties and houseboats in India and Japan.

“I am really thankful to be given this opportunity at my age,” Reddy explains. “I guess this drives a person to prove oneself.”

After growing up in India, Reddy wanted to return to the United States, where he was born, to go to college. He attended a summer session at Harvard and three semesters at Penn State before deciding to come to The University of Texas at Austin.

“After I got to McCombs, I loved the professors, the case competitions, student activities and the really smart people I rubbed shoulders with,” Reddy says.

McCombs is unique, he says, because of the diversity of disciplines offered.

“There’s no life in the middle at McCombs,” Reddy says. “A lot of the people may not think like you, but they’re all really smart nonetheless. I thought I knew everything when I got there, but I found that the more you grow, the more you realize what you don’t know.”

Reddy believes there are two ways to help prepare for a career in business—experience or exposure. Experience involves the time worked in a certain field, while exposure involves meeting people from different fields and countries and simply being exposed to how international business works. Being so young, Reddy relies on the latter.

“I think my exposure level compensates for my experience level,” he says. “I find it very easy to relate to topics my colleagues are talking about.”

However, despite the important role America has played in his education, don’t look for Reddy to return for work any time soon. “India is the place to be right now,” he says. “There is a world of opportunity here.” —Amy Lavergne