Quick Facts
Biography
Bali Padda is a British businessman and former CEO of The Lego Group. Prior to this role, he was Lego's chief operations officer. He inherited the role of CEO from Jørgen Vig Knudstorp, who stepped down to lead the LEGO Brand Group in January 2017. He is the first non-Danish top-level executive to run the 84-year-old company.
Born in Punjab, Padda's parents migrated to the UK from Mumbai to search for a better life, when he was just 12. he dropped out of school and took up odd jobs at the age of 16.
He joined the LEGO Group in 2002 as Head of Market Oriented Packing based in Enfield, USA. Bali Padda came from a Customer Service & Supplier Relations background with GlaxoWellcome and Timberland before joining the LEGO Group.
In August 2017, Lego announced that Padda would be replaced as CEO by Niels B. Christiansen, effective from October 2017.