Born in a wealthy and successful business family, he attended boarding schools like Bishop Cotton School in Shimla and others in Nainital and went on to study at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, United States. He is currently married to Minal who he met while he was a student in the US and they have two children: Ruchir and Aliya. On March 1, 1985, while a sophmore at Duke University, Modi was arrested on charges of conspiracy to traffic cocaine and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. __