Bal Krishen Rathore: Indian expat who turned from tea boy to CEO in no time

Bal Krishen Rathore, who is the chairman and chief executive officer of Dubai-based Century Financial, an investment firm in global financial markets has an inspirational story that sounds fictitious.

Belonging to Jammu and Kashmir on the Indo-Pak border, Bal came from a humble background, reported Khaleej Times.  He started working at a young age to support his family.

Now in Downtown Dubai, Bal said he did many odd jobs at a tender age. Eventually, his "entrepreneurial skills came to the fore" after which he took a risk and embarked on a new journey by starting a small business back home.

He said that his father's early retirement motivated him to find a good job urgently to provide a better livelihood.

In 1996, Bal landed in Dubai. There he worked as a labourer and did other odd jobs. The CEO said that while most people don't have the courage to admit it, he would comfortably share that he worked as a tea boy in a local hotel.

He told Khaleej Times that his tea boy experience taught him a lot and prepared him for his bright future. Bal learned the basics of people management and customer service. 

"I  worked my way up at the hotel to become an accountant.”

A senior banker observed Bal's skills and gave him the opportunity to work in investments and finance.

 “That was the stepping stone for me," said Bal.

Bal said that his life changed in 1999 for which he credited  Sulaiman Baqer Mohebi, an Emirati entrepreneur and the then president of Century Financial.  This was the man who had first given him the position of office assistant.

Bal, being a quick learner, adopted the skills required for trade soon enough.  In no time, he became a junior dealer and began helping in the supervision of global transactions.

Working 15 hours a day, the man reached the top eventually after taking up several leadership roles.

Bal never forgot home even after reaching the top. He developed a fund called Divine India which supports humanitarian activities back home and works on health, education, and youth empowerment.