Shri Thanedar

Shri Thanedar (born February 22, 1955) is an American businessman, author, and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 13th congressional district since 2023.

A member of the Democratic Party, Thanedar served as a member of the Michigan House of Representatives from 2021 to 2023.

He came to the U.S. in 1979 to pursue a PhD at the University of Akron, which he earned in 1982.

Thanedar did post-doctoral work at the University of Michigan before taking a job in 1984 as a researcher at Petrolite Corp.

Thanedar became a U.S. citizen in 1988.

In 1990, Thanedar took a job working nights and weekends for $15/hour at Chemir/Polytech Laboratories to learn the business.

He took out a loan to buy Chemir in 1991 for $75,000.

Sales in the first year were $150,000 and the business had three employees.

Thanedar was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Central Midwest Region (Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska) in 1999, 2007, and 2016.

He maintains 40% ownership of Avomeen.

One acquisition, Azopharma, grew rapidly from $1 million in 2003 to $55 million in 2008.

By 2005, Chemir's revenues were $16 million and it employed 160 people, including 40 PhD chemists.

Thanedar borrowed $24 million from Bank of America to finance seven acquisitions, offering the bank a personal guarantee to back the debt.

During the 2007–10 recession in the United States, Azopharma's revenue fell by 70%, triggering bankruptcy proceedings by Bank of America.

Azopharma closed and its assets were sold for $2 million.

Thanedar's group of companies employed 500 people in 2008.

During the bankruptcy proceedings, AniClin, one of Azopharma's research facilities of which Thanedar was the sole owner, abruptly closed; a 2010 USA Today article claimed that laboratory animals were abandoned at the facility after the company was placed in receivership.

According to later reports, animal welfare organizations facilitated the adoption of all animals in the facility, and Thanedar denied that any animals were abandoned.

Thanedar briefly retired in 2010, then came out of retirement later that year to launch Avomeen Analytical Services, an Ann Arbor-based chemical testing laboratory, with his son Neil.

Avomeen was named to the INC 5000 list of fastest-growing U.S. companies in 2015 (#673) and 2016 (#1365).

Chemir remained profitable throughout the legal proceedings and was sold on March 31, 2011, for $23 million.

That sale plus the combined assets in the firm covered Thanedar's debt to Bank of America.

In 2016, Thanedar sold a majority stake in the business to private equity firm High Street Capital.

He shared $1.5 million of the proceeds with his 50 employees.

In November 2017, a buyer of Avomeen Holdings LLC filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Detroit, claiming Thanedar made "fraudulent and misleading representations" of his company's finances in order to sell the majority stake in November 2016.

Thanedar denies the allegations, saying that revenues "are anticipated to significantly exceed" those of past periods.

On April 5, 2017, Thanedar submitted paperwork to raise funds for a potential gubernatorial campaign in Michigan.

Early polling in 2017 showed him in last place at 2% to 3%.

He was also a candidate in the Democratic primary for governor of Michigan in the 2018 election.

Thanedar grew up in a lower-income family in Belgaum, Karnataka, India.

When his father was forced to retire at age 55, the 14-year-old Thanedar worked odd jobs to support his family of eight.

He earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry at 18 and then attended a master's program at University of Bombay.

Thanedar entered politics when he ran in the 2018 Michigan gubernatorial election as a Democrat.

His political platform included a $15 minimum wage, public education reform, infrastructure improvements, and increased government transparency.

On June 8, he officially announced his candidacy for governor of Michigan in the 2018 Democratic primary.

He pledged not to accept any corporate political action committee donations.

Thanedar contributed $10.6 million of his own money to his campaign.

After running a statewide Super Bowl ad in February 2018, he quickly became the best-known Democratic candidate for governor.

Thanedar won statewide Democratic polls in March (21% to 18%) and April (30% to 26%) versus Gretchen Whitmer, the presumptive Democratic front-runner.

U.S. District Judge Gershwin A. Drain dismissed the case in August 2019, citing a notice from Thanedar and Avomeen Holdings LLC that they had reached an agreement to resolve the matter out of court.