'Laid back' millionaire returns to the fold as chief executive

Arun Sarin, the Indian-born millionaire who lives in California, was virtually unknown in the City until yesterday, when it emerged that he is about to become one of Britain's most high-profile businessmen.

The 48-year-old is expected to provide a dramatic change of scene at Vodafone when he becomes chief executive next July. Associates say Mr Sarin's "affable" and "laid-back" approach will be a significant shift from Sir Christopher Gent's management style, described by one analyst as "sometimes larger than life".

While Mr Sarin's name left many observers nonplussed, insiders say he has been a possible successor to Sir Christopher for some time. This is partly due to the close relationship the two have had since Vodafone took over Mr Sarin's company, AirTouch, in 1999.

Mr Sarin netted share options worth more than £9m from the sale, before enjoying a brief burst of publicity in this country for being one of its best-paid directors. He picked up £16.7m in profit from share options alone in 2000.

Mr Sarin is one of the veterans of the telecoms industry, having worked in the business for 18 years after he came to the US in the 1970s to add an MBA at the University of California, Berkeley, to his engineering degree gained at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology in Kharagpur.

His first job was as a management consultant before moving into the fast-growing telecoms industry with a position at US telecoms group Pacific Telesis, from which AirTouch was spun off in 1994.

Mr Sarin, a US citizen, will leave his current job heading up the US venture capital company Accel-KKR Telecom to take the helm of Vodafone with a £1.1m basic salary. He also owns 4.8 million Vodafone shares worth about £5.4m and 11.25 million share options.

Mr Sarin did not always want to be in the vanguard of the new technology revolution. He was born to an army family in India and wanted to become a pilot. He is thought to have been dissuaded by his mother, who already had one son in the armed forces.

But Mr Sarin will be well aware that he is under pressure to make sure Vodafone, once Britain's largest company, flies under his leadership.