Nandan Nilekani is the Indian Entrepreneur and a Forbes Billionaire. In 2010, Forbes has estimated his net worth US $ 1.4 Billion making him India’s Top 50 richest persons.
Nandan Nilekani has made his fortune from Infosys Technologies which he co-founded with N R Narayana Murthy and 6 others.
He currently serves as the Chairman of the new Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI).
Nandan Nilekani was born on 2nd June 1955 in Bangalore, Karnataka, India as a younger son of Durga and Mohan Rao Nilekani.
His father worked as a General Manager of Mysore and Minerva Mills. His father, who subscribed to Fabian Socialist ideals, had an influence on Nandan during his early years. He has an elder brother, Vijay, who works in the Nuclear Energy Institute.
He studied at Bishop Cotton Boys School Bangalore, and then at St. Joseph's High School Dharwad, and later in IIT, Bombay where he graduated with a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering in 1978. His early years were marked by his father’s job transfers and re-locations. He spent the first twelve years at Bangalore, where he studied at the Bishop Cotton Boys School. He then moved in with his uncle’s family in Dharwad, after his father had been transferred.
After graduating in electrical engineering from IIT Mumbai in 1978, Nandan Nilekani joined Patni Computers. Here he worked under Narayan Murthy. Three years later in 1981, Nandan Nilekani along with Narayan Murthy and five other co-founders founded Infosys. While Narayan Murthy stayed in India, Nandan Nilekani shifted to the US to take care of Infosys’ interests there. He was the company’s marketing face.
In 1980s and 90s Nandan Nilekani and his team worked hard to build Infosys. Today Infosys’ success story has become a legend in India’s corporate history. Today, Infosys has an employee strength of 58,000, annual revenue of $2 billion and $21 billion capitalization.
Nandan Nilekani is married to Rohini, whom he met at a quizzing event at IIT.They have two children, both studying at Yale University. Their names are Nihar and Janhavi.
Honors & Awards -
Padma Bhushan
A member of 20 global leaders on the World Economic Forum (WEF) Foundation Board.
Honored as one of Asia`s Power 25 - The Most Powerful People in Business in Asia by Fortune magazine, 2004.
TIME magazine honored him as one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in May 2006
Business Leader of the Year 2006 by Forbes Asia