MAM
Natrajan & Subramanian quit LIM, Manas Mishra joins as prez
MUMBAI: Lintas Initiative Media‘s top two executives have quit. Sudha Natrajan, the CEO of the agency, and Raghav Subramanian, the COO, have moved on to start their own venture.
Meanwhile, Lintas Initiative Media has appointed Manas Mishra as the president. Based in Gurgaon, he will service the agency’s blue
chip accounts in the country including Maruti Suzuki, Sony Electronics, Voltas, Expedia, 3M and Citizen watches.
Mishra, who moves in from Starcom MediaVest Group- Greater China where he has been working as the managing director, will report to Lintas Media Group chairman and CEO Lynn de Souza.
Natrajan will be with the agency till the end of July, after which she will pursue her own venture in the media and entertainment space. It, however, could not be confirmed on exactly what her venture would be.
Lintas Media Group CEO Lynn de Souza said, “Sudha has been a great asset to Lintas Media Group. Her business acumen and affectionate nature have won her long standing relationships in the media industry which will serve her well in future pursuits. We will miss her terribly but respect her desire to try out something new”.
On the appointment of Mishra, De Souza said, “It is wonderful to have Manas back with us. He has grown manifold during the time he has spent with other leading agency networks, while retaining a strong strategic bent of mind. His service on the Technical Committee of the IRS has also been highly appreciated.”
Mishra added, “I am looking forward to this new journey with Initiative, building new partnerships with teams and clients.”
Mishra is a media and communications professional with 17 years of experience spanning media strategy, revenue growth, successful team leadership, and P&L management. Prior to Starcom, he was with Mudra Connext. He has also worked with Mediaedge CIA, and Contract, and also ran the Initiative Mumbai office from 2004 to 2006.
Natrajan has over 20 years of brand marketing, client servicing and media management experience. At LMG she has worked with clients like Maruti Suzuki, Sony Electronics, Religare Enterprises, Voltas and Naukri.com.
Subramanian had joined LIM in December 2011. Prior to LIM, he was with Starcom MediaVest Group. He has over 20 years of
experience in the business of media, consulting, analytics and research.
Brands
YES Bank hands the keys to SBI veteran Vinay Tonse as it bets on a new era
Former SBI managing director appointed as YES Bank’s new MD and CEO
MUMBAI: YES Bank is done rebuilding. Now it wants to grow. The private sector lender has appointed Vinay Muralidhar Tonse as managing director and chief executive officer-designate, with RBI approval secured and a start date of April 6, 2026 confirmed. The three-year term signals the bank’s intent to shift gears from crisis recovery to full-throttle expansion.
Tonse, 60, is no stranger to scale. Most recently managing director at State Bank of India, he oversaw a retail book of roughly $800bn in deposits and advances, one of the largest in the country. Before that, he ran SBI Mutual Fund from August 2020 to December 2022, a stint that saw assets under management surge from Rs 4.32 lakh crore to Rs 7.32 lakh crore across market cycles. Add stints in Singapore and four years leading SBI’s overseas operations in Osaka, and the incoming chief arrives with a genuinely global CV.
His academic grounding is equally solid: a commerce degree from St Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bengaluru, and a master’s in commerce from Bangalore University.
The appointment follows an extensive search and evaluation process by the bank’s Nomination and Remuneration Committee. NRC chairperson Nandita Gurjar said the committee unanimously backed Tonse, citing his leadership track record, governance credentials and ability to drive the bank’s next phase of transformation.
Non-executive chairman Rama Subramaniam Gandhi was unequivocal. “I am certain that Vinay Tonse, with his vast experience as a senior banker, will propel YES Bank to its next phase of growth,” Gandhi said, adding that the bank remains focused on strengthening its retail and corporate banking franchises and expanding its branch network.
Rajeev Kannan, non-executive director and senior executive at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, the bank’s largest shareholder, said Tonse’s experience across retail, corporate banking, global markets and asset management positioned him well to lead the lender. SMBC said it looks forward to working with Tonse and the board as YES Bank pursues its ambition of becoming a top-tier private sector lender anchored in strong governance and sustainable growth.
Tonse succeeds Prashant Kumar, who took the helm in March 2020 when YES Bank was in freefall following a severe financial crisis, and spent six years painstakingly stabilising the institution, rebuilding governance and restoring operational scale. Gandhi was generous: “The bank remains indebted to Prashant Kumar, who is responsible for much of what a strong financial powerhouse YES Bank is today.”
Tonse, for his part, struck a purposeful note. “Together with the board and my colleagues, I remain deeply committed to creating long-term value for all our stakeholders,” he said, pledging to build on Kumar’s foundation guided by his personal motto: Make A Difference.
Beyond the balance sheet, Tonse played cricket at college and club level and represented Karnataka in archery at the national championships — sports he credits with teaching him teamwork, situational leadership, discipline and focus. In quieter moments, he reaches for retro Kannada music, classic Hindi songs, and the crooning of Engelbert Humperdinck, Mukesh and Kishore Kumar.
YES Bank has its steady-handed rebuilder in Kumar to thank for survival. Now it has a scale-obsessed growth banker at the wheel. The next chapter starts April 6.
