Shiv Nadar biography and net worth

Shiv Nadar - Toolshero

Shiv Nadar (born July 14, 1945) is an Indian billionaire, entrepreneur, industrialist and philanthropist. He is the founder of Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL). HCL operates all over the world and has a physical presence in over 42 countries. Shiv Nadar also founded the Shiv Nadar Foundation. This article covers his biography, quotes and net worth.

Shiv Nadar biography

Early years

Shiv Nadal was born in the Indian town of Moolaipozhi Village, about 10 kilometers from Tiruchendur, in what is now the Thoothukudi district. His parents were Sivasubramaniya Nadar and Vamasundari Devi.

Education

Shiv Nadar started high school at Town Higher Secondary School and then studied at Elango Corporation Higher Secondary School. In 1955, he was admitted to the first class and continued his education in Town High School until 1957. He completed his secondary education at St. Josepth Boys Higher Secondary School.

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After receiving his high school diploma, Nadar began a pre-university education at American College in Madurai. He then earned a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore.

Career of Shiv Nadar

After graduation, Nadar immediately started his career with the Cooper Engineering company in Pune, part of the Walchand Group in 1967. However, he soon moved north and joined Delhi Cloth Mills (DCM) as an engineer in the calculator department.

In the roughly ten years that followed, he got to know many interesting people. Along with several others, he founded Microcromp Limited. These other people were Arjun Malhotra, Subhash Orora, Ajai Chowdhry, D.S. Pure and Yogesh Vaidya. The company was engaged in selling digital calculators under the brand name Televista.

The establishment of Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL).

The company was renamed Hindustan Computers Limited (HCL) when it officially started on a piece of land donated to them by the local government of Uttar Pradesh.

In 1977, the laws in India changed causing large American companies such as IBM and Coca-Cola to leave the country. It gave HCL the space to gain more market share by selling their microcomputers, developed and manufactured in India itself.

International expansion HCL

Then, in 1980, Far East Computers in Singapore was founded by Nadar. It turned out to be a huge success: in the first year, a turnover of over a hundred thousand euros was realized. A year later, the National Institute of Information Technology was founded in India.

The institution’s task was to meet India’s skyrocketing need for computer education. Nadar invested heavily in the organization and eventually became the main shareholder as of 2003.

Around 1983, Hindustan Computers Limited produced not only the well-known 16-bit processors, but also their own database management system. One year later they presented their full client-server system.

During this time, again the law was changed and importing technologies was allowed. Nadar traveled all over the world to gain knowledge and buy parts. He then started HCL America, active in the hardware market for computers in the US. The company started out with problems because they did not get an environmental permit, but by 1991 it was turning green through a partnership with Hewlett Packard.

In 1994, HCL partnered up with Nokia and Eriksson. Together they sold phones and so-called mobile switches in India. In 1998 co-founder Arjun Malhotra decided to start his own company. In doing so, the company lost one of its largest shareholders. Shiv Nadal then decided to list HCI on the Indian stock exchange, which restored sufficient capital.

Between then and 2006, the company entered into several more important partnerships. The goal was for the company to become globally active.

Nadar stepped down as CEO in 2007. Vineet Nayar took over his role. He remained the largest shareholder and also chairman. In his spare time, he focused mainly on his philanthropic goals. From 2008, his daughter Roshni Nadar Malhotra became chairman.

Shiv Nadar Foundation

Well before he stepped down as CEO, as early as 1994, Nadar established the Shiv Nadar Foundation. His dream was for the institution to ensure that the future generations of India could enjoy quality education. He also opened several schools to provide education to underprivileged children.

Shiv Nadar Net Worth

Nadar started his business in a shed, but today the company accounts for over $8 billion in annual sales. His estimated net worth in 2022 is 23.4 billion USD.

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Shiv Nadar Quotes

  • “If you have excellent people, then you have to give them the power.”
  • “If you go to Wall Street, there is someone from Harvard, Stanford, etc, who relate to each other by the batch they studied in, the dorm they lived in, and so on.”
  • “A founder can carry an institution only so far, and then others have to step in, even the alumni. That’s how an institution becomes one.”
  • “Like education, healthcare also needs to be given importance.”
  • “Any institutions’ alumni are key to its growth. We are focused on giving a global experience to our students.”
  • “It is good to start as young as you can. What is more important is to carve out your vision and assess your readiness to start giving. Commitment and purpose are core to giving.”
  • “Education is and will be the most powerful tool for individual and social change, and we must do all that it takes to facilitate it.”
  • “If you are calm about your ambitions, you become confident of achieving what you set out to do.”
  • “We need a world class institution which will create leaders out of the children who have not had a good start in life.”
  • “When you live away from your family, your friends and faculty become your family.”
  • “Adaptability and constant innovation is key to the survival of any company operating in a competitive market.”
  • “We need schools like Doon and Mayo for the poor.”
  • “In the future, there are going to be various components of doing business that have to be looked at.”
  • “When you are running a business, there is a constant need to reinvent oneself. One should have the foresight to stay ahead in times of rapid change and rid ourselves of stickiness in any form in the business.”

How to cite this article:
Janse, B. (2022). Shiv Nadar. Retrieved [insert date] from Toolshero: https://www.toolshero.com/toolsheroes/shiv-nadar/

Original publication date: 03/26/2022 | Last update: 03/05/2023

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Ben Janse
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Ben Janse

Ben Janse is a young professional working at ToolsHero as Content Manager. He is also an International Business student at Rotterdam Business School where he focusses on analyzing and developing management models. Thanks to his theoretical and practical knowledge, he knows how to distinguish main- and side issues and to make the essence of each article clearly visible.

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