Malabar Gold and Diamonds
Leadership History
3 leaders · 1993 to present
M.P. Ahammed is the CEO of Malabar Gold and Diamonds, in the role since 1993.
| Name | Role | From | To | Years in role |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| O. Asher | Managing Director, International Operations | 2011 | Present | 15 |
| Shamlal Ahamed | Managing Director, India Operations | 2007 | Present | 19 |
| M.P. Ahammed | Founder & Chairman, Malabar Group | 1993 | Present | 33 |
Malabar Gold & Diamonds sells gold, diamond and gemstone jewellery through company-run showrooms. It opened its 400th store in Noida in June 2025, ran 262 stores in India and over 150 abroad by October 2025, and passed 425 showrooms by March 2026. Most sales come from 22K gold and bridal jewellery for Indian families at home and in the Gulf and Western diaspora. The company built its brand on purity guarantees and itemised pricing in a market long dominated by small local jewellers. The company is headquartered in Kozhikode, India.
Managing Director, International Operations
2011 – Present
15 years (current)
Asher drove the aggressive penetration into North and East Indian markets, heavily customizing the jewelry designs to appeal to local cultural aesthetics outside of Malabar's native Kerala.
As Managing Director of India Operations, he established strict standardization across the massive domestic branch network, ensuring uniform customer experience and pricing transparency.
Managing Director, India Operations
2007 – Present
19 years (current)
Ahamed aggressively spearheaded Malabar's international expansion, specifically targeting the massive expatriate Indian communities in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.
As Managing Director of International Operations, he transformed Malabar from a regional South Indian jeweler into one of the largest retail jewelry chains in the world.
Founder & Chairman, Malabar Group
1993 – Present
33 years (current)
Originally a spice and copra trader in Kerala, Ahammed identified gold jewellery as a generational asset class for Indian families. In 1993, he gathered seven relatives and co-investors with 50 lakh to open a modest 400-sq-ft showroom in Kozhikode (Calicut). He made the influential ethical decision to offer 100% hallmarked gold, transparent invoice breakdowns showing exact making charges, and guaranteed buyback at a time when the Indian gold market was notorious for opaque purity margins. He directed the historic international expansion into the Gulf in 2008 and into North America and Europe.
Grew Malabar from one Kozhikode store into a chain of 425+ showrooms in 14 countries with about $7.31 billion (₹63,000 crore) turnover in FY2024-25.
Malabar's sales depend on gold prices, import duties and Indian regulation such as mandatory hallmarking and GST. Very high gold prices in 2025-26 pushed buyers toward lighter pieces and exchange of old gold. It faces strong organised rivals (Tanishq, Kalyan, Joyalukkas, Reliance Jewels), currency swings between the rupee, dirham and dollar, and the working-capital burden of holding large gold inventory.
Founder and Group Chairman M.P. Ahammed leads the group, with Shamlal Ahamed as Managing Director for India Operations and O. Asher as Managing Director for International Operations.
M.P. Ahammed envisioned creating a transparent, highly ethical jewelry retail brand that would eliminate widespread consumer exploitation in gold purity and pricing, transforming the unorganized gold trade in Kerala into a structured, customer-centric global industry.
Dr. P.A. Ibrahim Haji was a renowned Dubai-based NRI entrepreneur, educationist, and Co-Chairman of Malabar Group who provided strategic guidance, global diaspora investor connections, and philanthropic leadership from the company's early years until his passing in 2021.
Malabar's board operates on a collective leadership philosophy rooted in democratic decision-making, ethical capitalism, shared shareholder prosperity, strict regulatory compliance, and a moral duty to return wealth to society through CSR.
The founding leaders have integrated highly educated second-generation family members and professional executives into key operational verticals across digital marketing, supply chain analytics, international retail, and finance.
M.P. Ahammed has been honored with numerous international awards, including the Retail Jeweller Global Leader Award, Forbes Top Indian Leaders in the Arab World, and state recognitions for his monumental contributions to global Indian enterprise and philanthropy.
The company is heavily led by the founder, M.P. Ahammed, who acts as Chairman. However, the massive global expansion is aggressively driven by Shamlal Ahamed (Managing Director of International Operations) and Asher O. (Managing Director of India Operations). Their absolute primary mandate is transitioning Malabar from an "Indian brand" into a globally dominant luxury jeweler, rapidly opening massive flagship stores in London and the USA.
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