Shiv Nadar (born 14 July 1945)[2] is an Indian billionaire businessman and philanthropist.[3] He is the founder and chairman ofHCL Technologies, and is chairman of the Shiv Nadar Foundation. Nadar founded HCL in 1976 and transformed the IT hardware company into an IT enterprise over the next three decades.[4]
In 2008, Nadar was awarded thePadma Bhushan for his efforts in the IT industry.[5] Nadar, nicknamed by friends asMagus (Old Persian for "wizard"),[6] since the mid-1990s he has focused his efforts on developing the educational system of India through the Shiv Nadar Foundation.[7]According toForbes, he has an estimated net worth of US$34.1 billion as of 26 March 2025, making him one of the richest people in the world.[8]
Nadar[15] began his career atWalchand group'sCooper Engineering Ltd. in Pune in 1967.[16] he soon gave it up to begin his own venture, in partnerships with several friends and colleagues. These partners wereAjai Chowdhry (Ex-Chairman, HCL), Arjun Malhotra (CEO and chairman, Headstrong), Subhash Arora, Yogesh Vaidya, S. Raman, Mahendra Pratap and DS Puri.[17]
The initial enterprise that Nadar and his partners began was Microcomp, a company that focused on selling teledigital calculators in the Indian market.[18][19] HCL was founded in 1976, with an investment of₹187,000 (equivalent to₹5.7 million or US$67,000 in 2023).[20]
In 1980, HCL ventured into the international market with the opening of Far East Computers in Singapore to sell IT hardware. The venture reported₹1 million (equivalent to₹23 million or US$270,000 in 2023) in revenue in the first year and continued to address the Singapore operations.[21] Nadar remained the largest shareholder without retaining any management control.[22]
In Aug 2020, Nadar handed over to his daughter Roshni Nadar, who became the first woman chair of a listed Indian IT company.[23] In July 2021, Nadar also stepped down as managing director of HCL Technologies, and was succeeded byC Vijayakumar, HCL Tech CEO, for a five-year term.[24]
In October 2021, he was ranked byForbes magazine as the third richest person in India with an estimated net worth of US$31 billion.[25]
Shiv and Roshni Nadar presenting a cheque of₹40 million (US$907,029.48) to the Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, towards the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund in New Delhi on 17 January 2005
In 1996, Nadar foundedSSN College of Engineering inChennai, Tamil Nadu[26] in the name of his father, Sivasubramaniya Nadar. Nadar took an active role in the college activities, including the gifting of₹1 million (equivalent to₹4.0 million or US$47,000 in 2023) worth of HCL shares to the college.[27] In 2006, Nadar announced that the college will promote research apart from ensuring that students benefit from foreign university tie-ups.[28] Nadar joined the executive board ofIndian School of Business in 2005.[29] In March 2008, Nadar's SSN Trust announced the setting up of two Vidyagyan schools inUttar Pradesh for rural students, where free scholarship for 200 students from 50 districts of the state. He visited Town Higher Secondary School in February 2011 and donated computers and other equipment worth₹8 million (equivalent to₹16 million or US$190,000 in 2023). He was chairman of the board of governors,Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT Kharagpur or IIT-KGP), a technical institute until 2014.[30]
Nadar's daughterRoshni Nadar is now chairwoman of HCL. She was the manager of HCL when Nadar started it in the 1990s.[31]
His wife,Kiran Nadar, is an art collector and philanthropist.[32] Nadar and his wife are active bridge players and sponsors of the HCL Bridge Tournament in India.[citation needed] Nadar topped the list of most generous donors of 2024 as he donated nearly rupees 6 crore every day in the year.[2]
^Vikas Pota (7 January 2010).India Inc: how India's top ten entrepreneurs are winning globally. Nicholas Brealey Publishing, 2009. p. 179.ISBN978-1-85788-524-8.
^Harish Damodharan (16 September 2008).India's New Capitalists: Caste, Business, and Industry in a Modern Nation. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 191.ISBN978-0-230-20507-9.
