Five Indian-Americans have made their way to the Forbes’ list of 400 richest people in the US. Microsoft’s co-founder Bill Gates, who has a net worth of $81 billion, has topped the list for the 23rd year in a row.
Symphony Technology founder Romesh Wadhwani, co-founder of outsourcing firm Syntel Bharat Neerja Desai, Airline veteran Rakesh Gangwal, entrepreneur John Kapoor and Silicon Valley angel investor Kavitark Ram Shriram have been featured in Forbes’ “The Richest People In America 2016” list.
Mr Wadhwani, 69, has been ranked 222nd on the list with a net worth of $3 billion. He is the chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology Group, an empire of 17 data, technology, healthcare and analytics companies that together take in more than $2.8 billion in annual revenue, Forbes said.
Last year, Mr Wadhwani announced that he planned to commit up to $1 billion to fund entrepreneurship initiatives in India.
Outsourcing firm Syntel Bharat co-founder Neerja Desai, on the other hand, ranks 274th on the list with a net worth of $2.5 billion.
Their company Syntel, started in 1980 from their apartment in Michigan, now generates over $950 million in revenue and has nearly 24,000 employees across the globe, Forbes said.
Airline veteran Gangwal is ranked 321 on the list with a net worth of $2.2 billion. The 63-year old IIT alumnus has made his fortune from InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of his budget airline IndiGo, India’s largest by market share.
Mr Gangwal co-founded IndiGo, headquartered outside Delhi in 2006 with one aircraft. The Miami resident owns more than 40 per cent of the company and now serves as a board member, Forbes said.
Entrepreneur John Kapoor ranks 335 on the list and has a net worth of $2.1 billion. He is the chairman of two drug outfits — Akorn, which specialises in “difficult-to-manufacture” prescription drugs and Insys Therapeutics, which produces an opioid for cancer patients.
Silicon Valley angel investor Kavitark Ram Shriram ranks 361 on the list and has a net worth of $1.9 billion. An early Google backer, Mr Shriram, has sold off most of his stock but remains on the board of its parent company, Alphabet, Forbes said.
Since 2000, Shriram has been investing in young technology startups through his firm, Sherpalo Ventures.
His portfolio includes Paperless Post, an online card and invitation service; Optimizely, which provides web and mobile app testing; and Inmobi, a mobile advertising company.
