Manu Shah Retiring at MSI

ORANGE, Calif. – Manu Shah, founder and CEO of M S International, Inc. (MSI), is retiring after 47 years in the business.

Shah will remain with the company as CEO emeritus, according to a release from MSI, and will advise and coach many leaders at MSI. Shah’s sons Rup and Raj, currently MSI co-presidents, will become co-CEOs.

Shah, born in India as the youngest of nine children, came to the United States and received a Master’s in mechanical engineering from Purdue University. Together with his wife Rika, he formed MSI out of the basement of their home in Fort Wayne, Ind.; he kept his day job as an engineer and exported microprocessors and memory chips by night.

A change in computer market demand led the Shahs to switch to importing granite. In 1983, Manu Shah decided to go full-time with MSI, and moved his family to Southern California a year later to be near a port city. Within one year, MSI surpassed $1 million in annual revenues; in 1987, the Shahs opened the first MSI Warehouse in Santa Fe Springs, Calif.

Since then, the Shahs built a successful organization with $2.8 billion in revenue, supporting the lives and livelihoods of over 3,000 worldwide employees. Now based in Orange, Calif, MSI has over 45 showrooms and distribution centers in greater North America.

 As a top 20 importer in the U.S., MSI features 10 product lines with thousands of products. As a leading employer, MSI helps support over 400,000 families and 1.6 million people around the world.

Manu Shah always kept his focus of giving back to the community locally and globally. He plans to continue his philanthropic efforts in his retirement in addition to spending even more quality time with his grandchildren.

“Success is a never-ending journey, it’s like climbing a mountain,” Manu Shah said. “When you reach the top of the summit and look below, you forget all the pain it took you to reach the top. You see the beautiful surroundings below and look forward to the other mountains yet to climb… You have to keep climbing, sometimes fast [and] occasionally slow, and start fresh every day.

“Thank you, Team MSI for continuing our mission of Making Dream Surfaces Attainable. I look forward to this company growing forever.”

“We look forward to continuing to build MSI using all of the lessons and tools our parents have provided us,” said Raj Shah.

“We would like to thank our parents for guiding us and assure them we will continue their vision for MSI,” said Rup Shah.