Knowledge43

This kid stuff is a child of billion

HARSIMRAN SINGH

 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ FRIDAY, APRIL 20, 2007 02:03:39 AM]

 

NEW DELHI: Browse through the list of Indian billionaires, and you come across a set of names that most of us have never heard of. They are school-going children, but in the wealth race, they are way ahead of Corporate India’s stalwarts such as JK Cement’s Gaur Hari Singhania, Kiloskar CMD Vijay Kirloskar, Apollo Tyres MD Onkar Kanwar, construction magnate Ajit Gulabchand, media baron Prannoy Roy or even families such as the Binanis and Nandas (in terms of their personal wealth calculated on the basis of their holdings in their own listed companies).

 

One wonders how these kids—Shruti, Divya, Nihar, Shreyas, Rohan or Meghana—aged between 7 and 22 are richer than India Inc’s rich and famous, until one notices the surnames Shibulal, Murthy, Goplakrishnan or Nilekani attached to them. It’s an indication of the personal wealth that India’s second-largest IT company, Infosys, has managed to create. It is the only private company in India that has made plumbers, drivers and even children super-rich. Jahnavi Nilekani (17) and Nihar Nilekani (16), children of Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, held 0.30% (16.6 lakh shares) each in Infosys as of December 31, 2006.

 

This makes their net worth at Rs 347 crore ($77 million) each—richer than multiplex moghul Ajay Bijli of PVR, whose equityholdings are worth Rs 284.6 crore, or Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank, whose holdings are valued at Rs 200 crore. The Infosys share closed at Rs 2,087.60 on BSE on April 13 (the day the company declared its annual results), which makes the Nilekani family’s 3.55% in Infosys worth Rs 1,742 crore.

 

Shruti and Shreyas Shibulal, children of Infosys head for worldwide sales SD Shibulal, hold 0.66% (36.7 lakh shares) each in Infosys. This makes them worth Rs 767.2 crore each—richer than even Infosys chairman Narayana Murthy, whose direct equityholding in his own company is worth Rs 663 crore.

 

Ironically, Mr Murthy is the poorest in the Murthy household. His stake is worth Rs 663 crore while son Rohan’s and daughter Akshata’s are worth Rs 1,692 crore and Rs 1,659 crore, respectively. On the other hand, his wife Sudha’s stake is worth Rs 1,944 crore.

 

Currently in college, the Murthy kids are richer than media magnate Prannoy Roy, who is worth Rs 856 crore. On the other hand, Apollo Tyres’ Kanwar is worth Rs 486.7 crore, CK Birla Rs 517 crore, Gaur Hari Singhania Rs 751.5 crore and Balaji Telefilms’ Ekta Kapoor Rs 503 crore. The equity worth of several corporate families like Monnet Ispat’s Jajodia family, Thermax’s Aga family, Escorts’ Nanda family and Moser Baer’s Puri family are also much less when compared with that of the Murthy kids.

 

The ET study did not consider crossholdings for calculating the personal wealth—only direct holdings in listed companies were considered. The personal wealth of the corporate families and non-Infosys individuals were calculated on the basis of Capitaline Plus figures as of March 31, 2006.

 

Divya and Deeksha, children of Infosys Australia chairman K Dinesh, are also richer than many business families. Divya and Deeksha have a personal wealth of Rs 286 crore, each holding 13.7 lakh Infy shares, which is more than the value of the equityholdings of the Binanis (Rs 130 crore), Kansagras of SpiceJet (Rs 223 crore) and Saraf family of Zenith Group (Rs 146 crore).

 

Similarly, the wives of Infosys executives also beat most corporate families in terms of personal wealth. Sudha, wife of Infosys’ current COO Kris Gopalakrishnan, holds 1.2 crore Infosys shares, which is worth a whopping Rs 2,566 crore! Interestingly, Mr Murthy’s driver Kannan used to hold more than Rs 200 lakh in options at one point of time