Ardeshir Godrej Career Age Biography Net Worth Controversies

Know more about Ardeshir Godrej’s age, family, biography, marriage, and career. Keep reading more to get interesting facts about Ardeshir Godrej.

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Ardeshir Godrej’s Biography

Ardeshir co-founded the Godrej Brothers Company the forerunner of the current Godrej Group with his brother Pirojsha Burj Orji. We have all used Godrej items at some point in our lives and are all aware of how well-known the company is in our nation. 

However very few people are aware of the toil that went into creating this well-known company The Godrej Group which was formed by Ardeshir Burj Orji Sorabji Godrej roughly 120 years ago and launched in 1897. Even though his initial venture selling surgical instruments did not succeed Ardeshir remained willing to maintain a manufacturing operation in India.

Soon after he got a loan from the Parsi businessman and philanthropist Merwanji Cama to launch a new lock-making company which also marked the beginning of the Godrej empire. His locks were superior to other locks in price quality and marketability. After that he started producing safes double plate doors and other items all of which were so well-known that according to The Hindu even the Queen of England used one on her tour of India in 1921. After stopping for a while he started making soaps using vegetable oil rather than animal fat.

Together with his younger brother Pirojsha they formed the Godrej Brothers business. Even as the company prospered Ardeshir led a modest life founded an Indian-based corporation and Made-in-India rose to fame. In 1936 a year in which Godrej and Boyce earned 12 lakh rupees Ardeshir Godrej died on August 5 1936.

Ardeshir Godrej’s Age

Indian businessman Ardeshir Burj Orji Sorabji Godrej’s birthdate is July 18 1868. Ardeshir Godrej was 68 years old when he died. Ardeshir Godrej died in 1936. Ardeshir Godrej’s zodiac sign is Aries. 

Ardeshir Godrej’s Family

Ardeshir was born in 1868 and he was the first of six children born to a Parsi-Zoroastrian family in Bombay. Ardeshir’s birthplace is Mumbai Maharashtra. Ardeshir’s father Burj Orji Godrej was a real estate broker. Ardeshir’s father died in January 1871. Ardeshir’s mother is Dosibai Godrej. Ardeshir married Bachubai 1890 who had just eighteen years old. 

Ardeshir Godrej's Education

Ardeshir graduated from Bombay's J.J. Fort Boys' High School after completing his education. He pursued law. However he quickly lost interest in the topic. He went back to India.

Ardeshir Godrej's Marriage

Ardeshir Burj Orji Sorabji Godrej's wife was Bachoobai A. Godrej. Ardeshir the founder of Godrej Brothers Co. and a member of a prominent Bombay Parsi-Zoroastrian family married Bachoobai in 1890 the same year she turned 18. Ardeshir's second cousin was Pirojbai Sorabji Kamdin.

On April 25 1891 Bachoobai and Pirojbai decided to ascend to the Rajabai Tower's viewing deck when one or two miscreants confronted them. The two attractive women allegedly jumped to their deaths rather than acceding to their demands. Ardeshir never got remarried and hardly ever talked about his loss. No children were born to Ardeshir and Bachoobai.

Ardeshir Godrej’s Career

In 1894 Fresh out of law school Ardeshir was engaged by a renowned company to present a case in Zanzibar on behalf of a client. The case's specifics are unknown but according to his biography everything proceeded smoothly up until the point where Ardeshir refused to admit (in front of the court) that his client had visited a specific location because there was no concrete proof that he had done so.

It required him to assume that as Ardeshir would later remark he could not reasonably make and would therefore be incorrect. Ardeshir returned to Bombay and gave up the practice of law after refusing to allow himself to be persuaded by the client. The client had to locate a replacement. Ardeshir would later remark that instead of seeing my side of the case I saw both sides the plaintiff's as well as the defendant's. In this divided state of mind I recognized I'd make a very terrible lawyer whichever side I selected. 

After the Zanzibar disaster Ardeshir was hired by a drugstore in Bombay where he worked as a chemist's assistant. Ardeshir paid a visit to Merwanji Muncherji Cama a trusted businessman and friend of his father in 1895. Ardeshir requested a loan and explained his proposal to produce surgical equipment. 

When Cama questioned Ardeshir as to why he had not sought his father for the loan Ardeshir responded that his father would give it to him as a gift rather than a loan and Ardeshir was unwilling to accept that. When his father passed away in 1918 Ardeshir refused to accept the inheritance demonstrating the importance of this rule not to accept money as a gift.

Ardeshir Godrej: Locksmithing and the foundation of Godrej Brothers

Ardeshir started producing scalpels forceps pincers scissors and other implements of a surgeon's trade with 3 000 rupees ($1500 US in 1895) from Cama. When he was confident that the product met the required specifications he requested a meeting with the owner of the company he worked for who when they met profoundly congratulated him on his achievement. 

However the business owner scolded Ardeshir when he asked that the product be marked Made in India and said You may be a first-class machinist but we are discussing marketing here. Please don't misunderstand. I have high regard for your country. Now if this item had been say an antique from India I would have responded Blazon it in bold font as Made in India please. But no way not surgical equipment! The project failed because the two parties couldn't be reached.

One morning Ardeshir read an article in a daily newspaper about the surge in burglary crimes in the city in which the police commissioner demanded increased protection for people's homes and places of business. As soon as Ardeshir realized a better lock was required he started looking into it. As soon as he saw that all locks manufactured in India were built by hand a labor-intensive and inefficient process of production Ardeshir decided to create a lock that would be assured to be unpickable. 

Ardeshir called on Merwanji Cama once more and apologized for not being able to pay back the loan right away before going on to outline his intentions for the new lock-making business. Beginning with the production of high-security locks under the Anchor brand Ardeshir added a packability guarantee.

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Ardeshir didn't start manufacturing simpler less expensive tumbler locks until much later and he made sure to include a disclaimer that their security was not guaranteed. He attempted to dispel any misconceptions regarding the number of levers in the notes he affixed to the locks by stating that a well-made four-lever lock was significantly more secure than an inadequate eight-lever lock. In addition he ensured that every key/lock pair was distinct and that only keys that were given with the lock would work to open the gadget.

A few years later Ardeshir obtained a patent for the first of his creations—a lock that became known as a Gordian lock. Both of the keys that came with it could lock and unlock the gadget but the second key also had the power to change the lock's internals rendering the first key worthless. Shortly after Ardeshir created a lock based on Jeremiah Chubb's Detector Lock design from 1818 which as the name implies alerted the owner when someone tried to use the wrong key. 

Upon doing so a bolt was thrown that could only be released with the right key and only after the key had first been spun as if to unlock the lock. The Godrej lock did not require a specific regulator key to regain operation similar to Charles Chubb's invention in 1824. The work is done using modern methods with the help of modern machinery that the factory is equipped with throughout at a very large outlay. We don't buy our locks or any safe parts ready-made; we manufacture all our requirements ourselves. 

We have a large number of specially trained lock-makers with over 15 years of experience. This enables us to produce our locks with the same level of accuracy as the greatest European manufacturers. All of our keys are deep-forged machine-cut and not manually filed out. We build the locks to fit the keys after cutting the keys. This provides extended wear and makes our locks completely impossible to pick.

Ardeshir Godrej: Safes

Ardeshir started experimenting with safes in 1901. Ardeshir decided to create a safe that was not only fireproof but also burglar-proof as he established that the majority of safes weren't. After countless sketches on paper and talks with his engineers and craftsmen Ardeshir concluded that the safe could only be manufactured from a single sheet of steel to guarantee stability and security. 

Each side of the cross-shaped sheet was folded forward then twice more (inward) to create the front door frame giving the final design a total of sixteen bends. The coffer was covered with a second sixteen-bend sheet offset from the first by 90 degrees and joints were welded rather than riveted. The lock and hinges were fastened to the inner plate of the double-plated door while the outer plate covered the joints. There were 13.5 tons in all. The Ardeshir design was protected by three patents in all. In 1902 the first safes were sold.

Ardeshir Godrej: Innovation in locks

Ardeshir and his brother Pirojsha applied for a British patent in July 1908 and it was approved (in October 1909) for the first springless lock ever made. Before it the levers in the locks were pushed into position by springs that were prone to clogging with dirt and breaking leaving the levers in an open state. Furthermore a competent thief who tried to pick the lock was helped by the levers' various degrees of resistance. The springless lock which Pirojsha is credited with creating in the patent certificate made the Pirojsha brothers extremely wealthy.

Around 1910 Ardeshir organized a trip to England France and Germany to research his rivals' lock-making endeavors. Ardeshir paid Merwanji Cama another visit shortly before he left this time to pay back the 3 000 rupee debt from so many years earlier. Despite being in critical condition Cama refused to accept the money because in his words doing so would take away the satisfaction he felt from having helped Ardeshir succeed. 

Boyce had no interest in the company and shortly after Ardeshir returned from his European travels Boyce himself suggested that he leave the company. The name 'Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co.' was retained. True to his promise Ardeshir and Pirojsha did make Boyce a partner and the company was renamed Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company.

Ardeshir Godrej: Trip to England and subsequent development

Ardeshir traveled to England to see the Chubb factory in Wolverhampton because Chubb and Milner were the only companies authorized to export security equipment to India. Ardeshir was made to feel welcome and given a tour of the production facilities allowing him to not only watch how his rival conducted business but also to identify product flaws. Ardeshir took meticulous notes and applied many of the strategies he learned while touring Europe after he got back to Bombay. Pirojsha quadrupled the factory's size while he was overseas and it is now home to 600 workers.

After his journey Ardeshir continued to experiment with safes and his business flourished after the earthquake and fire in San Francisco which did more damage than the earthquake itself. Ardeshir organized a public demonstration to show that the safes would preserve the contents in the event of a fire after a subsequent article in Scientific American (May 26 1908) revealed that most safes were not in fact fireproof. 

The demonstration was a huge success but the safes wouldn't show their value in a fire until the Calcutta Dharamtalla Street fire in April 1925. Eight years after Ardeshir's passing in 1944 the final test was administered. Although there was a tremendous loss of life and property as a result of the munitions explosion at Bombay's Victoria Docks several of the Godrej safes' contents survived including one that belonged to a bank.

Ardeshir Godrej: Creation of Godrej Soaps

Ardeshir gave his brother Pirojsha sole ownership and management of the business on May 1st 1928. Then to try his hand at farming he relocated to Nasik 185 kilometers north of Bombay. Ardeshir continued to be the inventor notwithstanding the failure of that endeavor. 

When he realized that all soaps in the world used tallow and other animal fats which were unacceptable for many Hindus who adhered to strict vegetarianism he discovered a way to make soap from vegetable oils a process that everyone had told him was impossible.

Ardeshir Godrej: Philanthropy work

The Godrej Group contributes to organizations including The Mangroves Teach for India the WWF Smile Train and the Godrej Memorial Hospital among others that promote health education and environmental sustainability. 
The Godrej Group is a significant supporter of the World Wildlife Fund in India. It has created a green corporate campus in the Mumbai suburb of Vikhroli that includes a 150-acre mangrove forest and a school for staff members' kids.

Ardeshir Godrej’s Controversies

When he finished producing surgical equipment the company owner thanked him for his creativity but insisted that it not bear the Made in India label. Despite his requests he was turned down because the proprietor believed it would hurt marketing and that India's products were inferior at the time. The business failed because Ardershir and the owner refused to change. When Ardeshir took his first case in 1894 it did not go well because he refused to distort the truth and the clients fired him as their attorney. This let him recognize that he was not cut out for this line of work.

In an interview with the Indian National Herald Ardershir criticized the Swadeshi Movement and argued against using native items simply because they were native. He believed there was no justification for favoring inferior goods because in his opinion India was more than capable of producing goods of high quality. Additionally he did not support Gandhi's nonviolent movement. He believed that India should actively work toward independence if it wished to do so.

Ardeshir Godrej’s Net Worth

Ardeshir Godrej is the co-founder of the Godrej company and he has a net worth of $5.2 billion. Ardeshir Godrej make locks in 1897.

6 Unknown Facts About Ardeshir Godrej

• Ardeshir started producing scalpels forceps pincers scissors and other equipment for a surgeon's work with 3 000 rupees ($1500 US in 1895) from Cama.
• A few years later Ardeshir Godrej filed for a patent on the first of his locks which became known as Gordian Locks.
• Ardeshir Godrej began experimenting with safes in 1901. Ardeshir decided to create a safe that was not only fireproof but also burglarproof as he established that the majority of safes weren't.
• Boyce was made a partner by Ardeshir Godrej and Pirojsha and the business was renamed Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company. Boyce however had no interest in the business and not long after Ardeshir had returned from his trip to Europe Boyce himself had proposed that he leave the organization. Godrej & Boyce Mfg. Co.'s name was kept.
• Ardeshir Godrej traveled to England to see the Chubb factory in Wolverhampton because Chubb and Milner were the only companies authorized to export security equipment to India. Upon his return to Bombay he put many of the techniques he had learned while touring Europe into practice.
• Everyone had told him it was impossible but he managed to turn vegetable oils into soap.

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