Shiv Nadar
Indian businessman; founder of HCL; chairman emeritus of HCLTech; philanthropist
| Shiv Nadar
| |
|---|---|
| Born | 18 7 1945 (age 81 years old (as of 2026)
) (Forbes) |
| Residence | Delhi, India (Forbes) |
| Occupation | Businessman; philanthropist |
| Known for | Founder of HCL; Shiv Nadar Foundation |
| Spouse(s) | Kiran Nadar |
| Children | 1, Roshni Nadar Malhotra |
| Education | PSG College of Technology (Forbes) |
Shiv Nadar (born 1945) is an Indian businessman and philanthropist. He founded the HCL group, whose listed IT services company, HCL Technologies (HCLTech), now names him chairman emeritus and strategic adviser to the board.[1] His daughter, Roshni Nadar Malhotra, chairs HCLTech. In March 2025 he gave her control of the family's main holding companies.[1][2] His Shiv Nadar Foundation, established in 1994, runs universities, schools and an art museum.[3] On 20 October 2026 the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list ranked Shiv Nadar 72nd in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$30.49 billion; Forbes lists the source of wealth as Software services.[4][5] In the annual World's Billionaires list published in 2026, Forbes had ranked Shiv Nadar 71st, at US$30.9 billion.[6]
HCL
Forbes says Nadar and five friends founded HCL in a garage in 1976 to make calculators and microprocessors.[4] In HCLTech's 2025–26 annual report, the chairperson marks the group's 50th anniversary. She says it began with Nadar's determination to make India self-sufficient in technology, and that it gave India its first indigenous 8-bit personal computer.[1] Forbes describes HCLTech as one of India's largest software services providers, employing more than 220,000 people in 60 countries.[4]
Succession
Forbes reports that he stepped down as HCLTech chairman in 2020 and handed the role to his daughter.[4] The Tamil-language edition of YourStory says that in 2021 he also gave up his post as managing director of HCL Technologies. It also calls Roshni Nadar the first woman to chair an Indian IT company.[7]
On 6 March 2025 he signed a gift deed in favour of his daughter. A disclosure filed with BSE the next day by International Data Management Ltd, a listed company whose promoter is HCL Corp, records that before the gift he owned 51.00% of HCL Corp and she owned 10.33%. Under the deed he transferred 47% of HCL Corp to her, making her its majority shareholder and giving her control over HCL Corp's 22.28% stake in that company. The deed is described as a private family arrangement to streamline succession.[2] YourStory Tamil reported that the gift also covered his stake in Vama Sundari Investments (Delhi), HCLTech's largest shareholder.[7]
Shareholding. HCLTech's shareholding pattern for the quarter to 30 September 2025 lists Nadar himself with 736 shares. Vama Sundari Investments (Delhi) Pvt Ltd holds 1,198,549,941 shares, or 44.167%. According to a note to the filing, Roshni Nadar Malhotra owns 57.33% of Vama Sundari (Delhi), giving her a proportionate 25.32% of HCLTech. The rest is held by her mother, Kiran Nadar, and her husband, Shikhar Malhotra. HCL Holdings Pvt Ltd holds a further 16.46% through Vama Sundari Trust, a discretionary trust of which she is the settlor. The Shiv Nadar Foundation holds 2,293,104 shares as a member of the promoter group.[8]
Philanthropy
Forbes counts him among India's leading philanthropists and says he has given US$1.1 billion to his foundation, which focuses on education.[4] The foundation's timeline shows it was established in 1994. It opened SSN College of Engineering in Chennai in 1996 and launched the VidyaGyan leadership academies for rural students in 2009. It then set up the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art in 2010, Shiv Nadar University in Greater Noida in 2011 and Shiv Nadar University Chennai in 2020.[3] The foundation's fact file puts its total investment at ₹12,577 crore, about US$1.5 billion.[9] HCLTech's 2025–26 report records that he received a lifetime achievement award at the 11th FICCI Higher Education Excellence Awards in 2025.[1]
Honours
The Government of India awarded him the Padma Bhushan in 2008, in the trade and industry category.[10]
Personal life
His wife, Kiran Nadar, is an art collector. Forbes says she has two private museums in Delhi.[4][3] Forbes quotes him as saying: "I came from a rural background, but I did alright."[4]
Wealth
Forbes gives software services as the source of his wealth.[4]
Wealth history
Forbes has included this entry in its annual World's Billionaires list in 26 of the editions from 2001 to 2026 checked for this profile, starting with 2001. The table gives the rank and estimated net worth in each annual list.[6][4]
| Year | World's Billionaires rank | Net worth (US$ bn) |
|---|---|---|
| 2001 | 209 | 2.2 |
| 2002 | 378 | 1.2 |
| 2003 | 427 | 1.0 |
| 2004 | 310 | 1.8 |
| 2005 | 272 | 2.3 |
| 2006 | 168 | 4.0 |
| 2007 | 214 | 4.0 |
| 2008 | 277 | 3.9 |
| 2009 | 430 | 1.7 |
| 2010 | 201 | 4.2 |
| 2011 | 182 | 5.6 |
| 2012 | 205 | 5.0 |
| 2013 | 182 | 6.5 |
| 2014 | 102 | 11.1 |
| 2015 | 66 | 14.8 |
| 2016 | 88 | 11.1 |
| 2017 | 102 | 12.3 |
| 2018 | 98 | 14.6 |
| 2019 | 82 | 14.6 |
| 2020 | 103 | 11.9 |
| 2021 | 71 | 23.5 |
| 2022 | 47 | 28.7 |
| 2023 | 55 | 25.6 |
| 2024 | 39 | 36.9 |
| 2025 | 51 | 34.5 |
| 2026 | 71 | 30.9 |
International and political links
This section uses the same ten headings for every profile in this series. Only specific, sourced actions are included; company-level and foundation-level actions are labelled as such. Where nothing was found, the entry reads "No documented involvement found in sources checked."
Israel (investments, operations, donations, contracts, statements)
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Zionist or pro-Israel organisations and lobbying groups
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Jewish communal charities
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Gulf states
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
China
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Russia
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
India
He received the Padma Bhushan in 2008. His foundation runs universities in Delhi NCR and Chennai, the latter set up under an act of the Tamil Nadu legislature.[10][3]
Palestinian or Arab causes
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Home government
No documented involvement found in sources checked.
Other international links
HCLTech employs more than 220,000 people in 60 countries, according to Forbes.[4]
See also
External links
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 HCL Technologies Ltd, Integrated Annual Report 2025-26: corporate profile (Message from the Chairperson; Board of Directors) HCLTech, 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 International Data Management Ltd, Disclosure under Regulations 30 and 30A of SEBI (LODR) Regulations, 2015: gift deed by Mr Shiv Nadar in favour of Ms Roshni Nadar Malhotra BSE Ltd (company announcement), 7 March 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Shiv Nadar Foundation, Our Story Shiv Nadar Foundation, accessed 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 4.8 4.9 Forbes, Forbes profile record for Shiv Nadar (Forbes data feed behind forbes.com/profile/shiv-nadar/) Forbes, live record, read 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Forbes, Forbes Real-Time Billionaires data feed Forbes, live; downloaded 20 October 2026 11:51 UTC, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Forbes, Forbes World's Billionaires list data feed, annual editions 2001–2026 (one file per year at this path with the year substituted; all 26 files downloaded and read) Forbes, annual lists; downloaded 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 YourStory தமிழ் (Tamil), தனது 47% பங்குகளை மகள் ரோஷ்னிக்கு எழுதிவைத்த சிவ் நாடார்: முழுமையாக ரோஷினி கைக்கு மாறியது HCL! (Shiv Nadar signs over his 47% stake to daughter Roshni: HCL passes fully into Roshni's hands) YourStory Tamil, 10 March 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ HCL Technologies Ltd, Shareholding pattern under Regulation 31(1)(b) for the quarter ended 30 September 2025 HCLTech (filed with BSE and NSE), quarter ended 30 September 2025, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ Shiv Nadar Foundation, Fact File Shiv Nadar Foundation, accessed 20 October 2026, accessed 20 October 2026.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Press Information Bureau, Government of India, Padma Awards announced (Padma Awards-2008) Press Information Bureau, January 2008, accessed 20 October 2026.