As per the Hurun India Rich List 2024, among Bengaluru's wealthiest, Infosys co-founder and former CEO Senapathy ‘Kris’ Gopalakrishnan, is richer than fellow co-founder N Narayana Murthy, Hindustan Times reported.
In its 2024 India Rich List released last week, Hurun noted that Gopalakrishnan is worth ₹38,500 crore, and Murthy worth ₹36,600 crore. They each occupy the fourth and fifth spots among the wealthiest in India's technology hub. Murthy is also 69th richest in India.
One of the original co-founders of Infosys, 69-year-old 'Kris' as Gopalakrishnan prefers to be called, was the CEO and MD of Infosys between 2007 and 2011. After that, he served as Vice Chairman of the company till 2014.
At present, he is the Chairman of start-up accelerator Axilor Ventures. The company has invested in startups such as EnKash, GoodHome and Kaagaz, among others, the report noted.
Along with his wife Sudha Gopalakrishnan, they have a philanthropic organisation called Pratiksha Trust, which focuses on brain research.
He is at present also on the Board of Governors at his alma mater IIT-Madras (as member) and IIT-Bangalore (as Chairman), and is on the Board of Trustee at the Chennai Mathematical Institute, as per the Infosys website.
He was conferred with India's third-highest civilian award, the Padma Bhushan in 2011.
Gopalakrishnan has Master’s Degrees in physics and computer science from IIT-Madras. In a 2009 interaction with Mint, he said that he would have become a doctor instead of a businessman, but "two marks" led him down the path we now know him for.
Gopalakrishnan recalled his parents’ wish that he study medicine as there were no doctors in their extended family, adding, “In spite of being a fairly good student, I failed to get admission in the government medical college by two marks. The number of colleges and seats were very limited then, and the family couldn’t afford a paid-for medical seat.”
Gopalakrishnan is among the six original co-founders of Infosys, including, Murthy, K Dinesh, Nandan Nilekani, NS Raghavan and SD Shibulal.
In the tough early days of Infosys, he looked after the technical aspects, eventually managing customer delivery.
After the 1993 public issue, Gopalakrishnan started taking on key roles and became the deputy managing director in 1994, returning to India after seven years in the US.
In 2002, Murthy stepped down, and Nilekani, who was on par with Gopalakrishnan until then, became the CEO & MD.
Then in 2004, Gopalakrishnan took over as CEO and MD after Nilekani stepped down.
India's total billionaire count reached 334 individuals and the cumulative wealth of these billionaires is at ₹159 lakh crore, as per a report by CNBC-TV18 citing the Hurun India Rich List 2024.
India saw new billionaires every five days in the last year, as per the report. In India, a total of 1,500 individuals now claim net worth of ₹1,000 crore or more, which is a significant surge of 150 per cent from seven years back, it added.
The 2024 Hurun India list shows 1,539 ultra-wealthy individuals — up 220 from last year, and a record-breaking 272 new entrants, the CNBC-TV18 report noted.
The list this year had a growing trend of self-made billionaires. As much as 65 per cent or 1,008 individuals on the list were self-made — an increase from the 871 self-made entrepreneurs in 2023, it added.
