What Is Shiv Nadar's Net Worth?
Shiv Nadar is an Indian tech tycoon and philanthropist who has a net worth of $35 billion. Shiv Nadar is the founder of HCL Technologies, which he launched in 1976. HCL started out as an IT hardware company, and in the 1990s, it branched out to software services. HCL went international in 1980, opening the hardware seller Far East Computers in Singapore. As of today, HCL has offices in more than 50 countries. Nadar served as HCL's chairman until 2020, and he is now the chairman emeritus as well as a strategic advisor to the company. He also chairs the Shiv Nadar Foundation, which has focused on developing the educational system of India since its creation in the mid-1990s. Shiv Nadar is one of the five richest people in India and one of the 50 richest people in the world overall.
Net Worth Details
Nadar controls 60% of Indian software developer HCL Technologies with his family. The family also owns 50% of computer maker and services business HCL Infosystems. Since Shiv is the chairman of the company, he is credited all his family's shares. The Nadar family also owns an art collection valued at over $85 million, and his wife operates the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in New Delhi.
(Photo by Ritesh Sharma/The The India Today Group via Getty Images)
Early Life
Shiv Nadar was born on July 14, 1945, in Moolaipozhi, Madras Presidency, British India. He grew up in a Tamil Hindu household with mother Vamasundari Devi and father Sivasubramaniya Nadar. Shiv's maternal uncle, S. P. Adithanar, founded the "Dina Thanthi" newspaper. Nadar attended Town Higher Secondary School and Town High School in Kumbakonam and Elango Corporation Higher Secondary School in Madurai, and he graduated from St. Joseph Boys Higher Secondary School in Trichy. Shiv earned a pre-university degree from the American College, Madurai, then he graduated from PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore, with an Electrical and Electronics Engineering degree.
Career
Nadar's career began at Cooper Engineering Ltd. in 1967, but he soon left to co-found Microcomp, a company that sold teledigital calculators. In 1976, he launched HCL Technologies with seven other engineers with an Rs. 187,000 investment. In 1980, HCL opened its first international business, Far East Computers, in Singapore, and it reported a revenue of Rs 1 million after its first year. HCL created an indigenous microcomputer in the late '70s, and in 1993, the company became a pioneer in infrastructure management, beginning with a digitization contract for the National Stock Exchange. In 1991, HCL began offering software services, and the company later launched the subsidiaries HCL Healthcare, HCL TalentCare, and HCL Infosystems. In July 2020, Shiv stepped down from his position of chairman and made his daughter, Roshni, the first woman chair of an IT company in India.
HCL went public in November 1999, issuing 142 crore (14.2 million) shares that were valued at ₹4 each. The company acquired Gulf Computers Inc. in 2000, and in 2018, HCL and Sumeru Equity Partners acquired the software company Actian for $330 million. That year HCL also acquired some of IBM's products, including AppScan and BigFix. The company rebranded in 2022 as HCLTech. In 2023, HCL reported a ₹102,814 crore ($13 billion) revenue, a ₹16,146 crore ($2.0 billion) net income, and total assets of ₹93,411 crore ($12 billion). Ethisphere named HCL one of the World's Most Ethical Companies® 2024, and the company was previously included on "Forbes" magazine's "World's Best Employers" list. "The Economics Times" named HCL its Corporate Citizen of the Year in 2022.
Personal Life
Shiv met his wife, Kiran, at an advertising agency she worked at, and they have a daughter named Roshni. Kiran is a philanthropist and art collector, and she won a bronze medal in the Bridge Mixed team event at the 2018 Asian Games. Kiran founded the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art, and she was honored with a Padma Shri, the Republic of India's fourth-highest civilian award, in the Art category. Roshni was the manager of HCL in the '90s, and as of this writing, she is the company's chairwoman. Shiv is passionate about philanthropy and has committed over $1 billion to charitable causes. In 1996, he founded the Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering (also known as SSN College of Engineering) in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and he donated HCL shares worth Rs. 10 lakh to the college. In 2005, Shiv became a member of the Indian School of Business executive board, and in 2008, his SSN Trust announced that it would open two Vidyagyan schools for rural students in Uttar Pradesh, offering free scholarships for 200 students. In 2011, Nadar donated computers to Town Higher Secondary School. Shiv served as the chairman of the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur's board of governors until 2014.
Awards and Honors
In 2007, Nadar received an honorary doctorate from Madras University, and he was named E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year in the Services category. The following year, he was honored with a Padma Bhushan, the Government of India's third-highest civilian award. Shiv was included on "Forbes" magazine's 2011 list of "48 Heroes of Philanthropy," and he was ranked #16 on "India Today" magazine's 2017 list of the country's 50 most powerful people of the year.
Real Estate
In 2014, Nadar paid Rs 115 crore for a home in New Delhi. He bought the bungalow for his daughter, Roshni.
