New Delhi: The death of Aisha de Sequeira, investment banking major Morgan Stanley’s co-country head for India, has plunged her home state of Goa and the banking and investment world into mourning.
De Sequeira passed away Thursday morning at the age of 50, with her husband Roy de Souza announcing the news in a Facebook post. “Sadly my wife Aisha de Sequeira passed away early this morning in New York. She was a great person who was warm and loving. She enjoyed spending time with her sons Nathan (9), Alexander (9) and Erasmo (11).”
De Sequeira was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017, and was undergoing treatment at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York.
De Sequeira, whose business idol was Steve Jobs, hailed from a Goan family and spent over 25 years at Morgan Stanley, rising to be a senior mergers and acquisitions banker. She moved back to India in 2007, and later assumed the role of co-country head in 2013.
Under her leadership, Morgan Stanley worked on key deals with Facebook Inc. and Google’s investments in Jio Platforms, the digital arm of Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd., among others.
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A powerful woman in business rooted in Goa
Aisha de Sequeira was the granddaughter of Dr Jack de Sequeira, a politician and president of the United Goans Party, and daughter of Erasmo de Sequeira, a former Member of Parliament.
Aisha grew up in Goa, was schooled at Our Lady of the Rosary High School, and then went to Goa Engineering College (GEC). In an earlier interview with Business Standard, she had said: “My childhood defined who I am, and one thing I learnt was it takes generations to build a reputation but that it can be lost in the blink of an eye. If not careful.”
After engineering college, she went to Yale to study economics and public policy, but after auditing many courses, she decided to major in finance.
Aisha de Sequeira’s association with Morgan Stanley began during her college days in the summer of 1994, when she joined the firm as an intern. By the time she graduated in 1995, she was an associate. A year later, she moved into the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) group.
Talking about the job of a banker in an earlier interview, she said: “You have to grow the business, expand the pie and connect with the clients for the long term because it is never about a one-off deal.”
Aisha met her husband Roy de Souza, founder of advertising firm Zedo and BreakBio, in 2005 and got engaged in 2007, which was also the year she moved back to India. In the next few years, she became a mother to three children, and in 2013, was appointed co-country head of Morgan Stanley in India.
Asked how she managed her work and personal life, she had said: “It’s doable but not easy, you need a supportive spouse and the whole lean-in thing works, if you just hang in there.”
Under her leadership, de Sequeira’s team bagged $20 billion of capital for clients in India, and also provided advisory services for over $70 billion in M&A deals. She featured regularly on the Fortune India list of 50 most powerful women in business from 2012 to 2015.
But she was also someone who wanted to make an impact in the community. In an interview with Business Today in 2015, de Sequeira explained that as she grew older, giving back became more critical to her, either through education or mentoring.
“I have always been troubled by the issue of the accident of birth that can so dramatically change your life,” she had said.
Fight with cancer
In 2017, after returning from a friend’s house in Mumbai with her husband, she experienced a sharp pain in her stomach, which was found to be due to colon cancer.
Around the time she was diagnosed, Roy de Souza had said: “The survival statistics were not good.” But he thought there had to be a way to treat her, so he took it upon himself to find the cure. He started BreakBio with his friend Devabhaktuni Srikrishna, which aims to find a treatment for cancer with curative intent through personalised vaccines.
Despite the disease, de Sequeira was relentless with her work and did not stop. She also said a lot of people used to ask her: “You’re a good person Aisha, why you?” To which, she replied that for 40 years when fantastic things happened to her she never asked why, so “why be hypocritical now”?
Tributes
Following de Sequeira’s death, tributes came pouring in from Goan politicians, including CM Pramod Sawant and minister Vishwajit Rane, and the business world.
Saddened by the demise of Aisha De Sequeira. She was ranked as the most powerful women in business by Fortune India. My heartfelt condolences to her family. pic.twitter.com/ikgwD6mHj1
— Dr. Pramod Sawant (@DrPramodPSawant) December 11, 2020
Deeply saddened as I learned about the sad demise of Aisha de Sequeira, alumni of Goa University & the co-country head and head of investment banking in India for Morgan Stanley.
The state of Goa has lost an inspiration, who was also named as the most powerful women of 2020. pic.twitter.com/LBV8cyz69f— VishwajitRane (@visrane) December 11, 2020
NASSCOM president Debjani Ghosh remembered de Sequeira as “always smiling.. always kind and absolutely brilliant”.
Just heartbroken …
Heaven welcomes another amazing angel… always warm.. always smiling.. always kind and absolutely brilliant. That's how I will remember Aisha ?https://t.co/0Z1DJh6W9g
— debjani ghosh (@debjani_ghosh_) December 11, 2020
Shrinivas Dempo, chairman of the Goa-based Dempo Group of corporates, said: “Goa has lost an extraordinary daughter and the world of investment banking one of its finest souls.”
Extremely saddened to hear about the loss of my dear friend Aisha Sequeira. Goa has lost an extraordinary daughter and the world of Investment Banking one of its finest souls. My heartfelt condolences ? pic.twitter.com/VybWxPx18B
— Shrinivas Dempo (@ShrinivasDempo) December 10, 2020
Also read: Women are taking lead in vaccine development. Therein lies a lesson
Jesus bless her
Jesus bless her and her family
Jesus bless her
When it comes to any cold fusion like any disease nobody is powerful enough on the planet to combat it. No amount of awards or recognition or influence has ever been able to combat the power of electronics.not me not you not anyone.they say all men are useless till the very end.
RIP Ayesha, grand daughter of the grand Goan patriot Dr. Jack Sequeira n a woman of substance. May u enjoy eternal bliss in heaven.