Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar are the only two billionaires from India inForbes’ list of the World’s 100 richest people in technology, ranking in the top 20 ahead of Google boss Eric Schmidt and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.The ‘100 Richest Tech Billionaires In The World 2016’ list has been topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates with an estimated fortune of $78 billion.im Premji, Chairman, Wipro. Reuters
Premji ranks 13th on the list with a net worth of $16 billion and Nadar comes in on the 17th spot with $11.6 billion of net worth.
The other Indian-American technology czars in the list are Symphony Technology Group CEO Romesh Wadhwani and founders of IT consulting and outsourcing company Syntel Bharat Desai and his wife Neerja Sethi.
Forbes said Premji, who heads India’s third-largest outsourcer, Wipro has been on a buying spree in the past year to boost growth.
Premji’s son Rishad, who heads strategy and sits on the board, also oversees Wipro’s $100 million venture capital fund.
Nadar co-founded HCL, which is reportedly mulling a US listing, Forbes said adding that Nadar also owns HCL TalentCare, a skills—development firm that provides training to new graduates. His latest venture is a $500 million fund to invest in startups and US healthcare tech firms.
Wadhwani comes in on the 67th position with a $3 billion net worth. A recipient of the 2013 Forbes India Non—Resident Philanthropist Award, Wadhwani announced in 2015 that he plans to commit up to $1 billion to fund entrepreneurship initiatives in India.Forbes said despite a tumultuous year for the stock market, “it was a good time to be a tech billionaire“.
The titans on Forbes’ second annual list of the world’s richest in technology are worth a combined $892 billion, six per cent more than a year ago. Just over half of the 100 richest in tech are from the US, including eight of the top 10 richest on the list.
