Ravin Gandhi


Ravin Gandhi is an American businessman. Gandhi was an executive with Coatings and Chemicals Corporation before its sale to Akzo Nobel. He later founded Glenborn Partners, a private equity firm, and GMM Nonstick Coatings, where he remained its CEO after its 2016 sale to Showa Denko.

Early life and education

Ravin Gandhi was born in Waukegan, Illinois in 1973, and graduated from University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in 1994, and became a CPA. Gandhi received his MBA from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management in 2000.

Career

Gandhi began his career in 1994 working as a chartered accountant at KPMG Consulting, before joining his father's company Coatings and Chemicals Corporation. Gandhi eventually engineered the company's sale to Akzo Nobel in 1998. Following the sale, he became President of Akzo Nobel Nonstick Coatings. In 2002 he founded Glenborn Partners, a private equity firm. In 2007, Gandhi founded GMM Nonstick Coatings, following the end of his non-compete clause with Akzo Nobel. GMM became one of the world's largest suppliers of non-stick coatings, and was acquired by Showa Denko KK in 2016. Following the sale, Gandhi remained the CEO of GMM, and in 2019 led the acquisition by SDK of ILAG nonstick coatings. As an investor, Gandhi is also an investor in Hester Biosciences and the first investor in KeyMe. He is also a commentator on CNBC, CNN, Bloomberg, and MSNBC, and a contributor to Fortune, Inc. Magazine, and Entrepreneur.

Personal life

Gandhi was a critic of Donald Trump during the 2016 Presidential election, and in 2017 his criticisms made national news when an oped he wrote resulted in a racist backlash, including racist emails, tweets, and voicemails. He wrote his piece in reaction to the Charlottesville incident. Gandhi also serves on the Board of City Year Chicago.