Carrying the tag of India’s most generous billionaire is no small feat, but Shiv Nadar lives up to the name. The founder and Chairman Emeritus of Hindustan Corporations Limited (HCL) Technologies, Nadar has spent decades practicing philanthropy, donating Rs 2,042 crore towards education and other social causes in 2022-2023, according to the EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023. He established the Shiv Nadar Foundation in 1994, which runs several initiatives, including the VidyaGyan schools that provide free education to underprivileged children in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh.
The desire to give back to the community stems from a personal place. Nadar may be listed as Forbes’ 9th richest person in Asia in 2024, with a net worth of $33.6 billion (Rs 2.79 lakh Crore), but his wealth is self-made. The 78-year-old industrialist, who helped India emerge as a top player in the global Information Technology sector, has humble origins and had to struggle to establish HCL in a garage in 1976. The company is currently valued at $12.6 billion (Rs 1.07 lakh Crore) in revenue, and is among India’s largest software services providers, according to Forbes.
In recognition of Nadar’s contributions to the IT industry, the Indian government awarded him with the Padma Bhushan in 2008. Here’s a primer on everything you need to know about Asia’s 9th richest person and the 41st richest person in the world.
Who is Shiv Nadar, Asia’s 9th richest person and India’s most generous billionaire with a net worth of Rs 2.79 lakh Crore?
Early life
Shiv Nadar was born to Sivasubramaniya Nadar and Vamasundari Devi on 14 July 1945 in Moolaipozhi, a small village in Tamil Nadu. His father, Sivasubramaniya, ran a small textile trading business in Chennai. Nadar first attended the Elango Corporation Higher Secondary School in Madurai, then Town High School, and finally St. Joseph Boys Higher Secondary School in Trichy. Following this, he earned a degree in engineering from PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore.
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MicroComp limited
After completing his engineering, Nadar joined Walchand Group’s Cooper Engineering in Pune in 1967, and then moved on to Delhi Cloth Mills’ digital products division, CNBCTV18 reports. However, the dream was to always build something of his own. In 1975, he teamed up with eight other partners, which included his friends and colleagues, to start MicroComp Limited, a company that aimed to sell tele-digital calculators. Nadar was the largest shareholder within that group. However, this was around the same time that IBM was leaving the country and Nadar saw an opening.
Establishing HCL
In 1976, Nadar established HCL with an initial investment of Rs 1,87,000, which was later backed by a Rs 20 lakh grant from the Uttar Pradesh government. The state government stipulated a 26 per cent stake in the company, which led to HCL becoming the first Public-Private Partnership (PPP), CNBCTV18 reports.
