Healthcare honchos to software czars
BIG BUCKS The next 20 moneybags include second-rung drug makers and two Infosys founders
BY NET WORTH (India) Pharmaceuticals (Tanzania) Conglomerate (India) Property
VG Siddhartha grows coffee in Karnataka, exports 28,000 tonnes annually, selling another 2,000 tonnes locally. His 1,500 coffee shops in India are called Café Coffee Day. He has 21 more shops in Kuala Lumpur, Prague and Vienna and is preparing for an IPO.
Abhay Firodia chairs Pune-based Force Motors, established in 1958. It makes vans, pickup trucks, SUVs, ambulances and tractors. He also has stakes in various Bajaj group companies. Firodia and his son Prasan run Force.
Kerala-born SD Shibulal was a co-founder of the $35 billion Infosys software and outsourcing company. In 2011, he became its CEO and managing director before retiring in 2014. His family’s stake in the business is worth around $800 million. (Canada) Insurance & Investments
In 1985, Hyderabad-born Prem Watsa took control of and nursed to health an ailing Markel Financial, a specialist in trucking insurance. In 1987, he re-organised the company and named it Fairfax Financial Holdings, which in 2013, injected over $800mn into the troubled Blackberry phone operation. Fairfax shares rose by over 21% in 2014 and it is now worth over $11 billion, with Watsa’s stake being 10%. (Uganda) Conglomerate
Ruparelia and his family, expelled by Idi Amin in 1972, returned in 1985. Now the Ruparelia Group, Uganda’s largest conglomerate, has interests in hotels, property, banking, education, insurance and agriculture. It owns a country club, a chain of foreign exchange bureaux, two secondary schools, Victoria University and Crane Bank, one of Uganda’s top three commercial banks. (UAE) Healthcare
Azad Moopen, a doctor, started Aster DM Healthcare, a chain of healthcare facilities — hospitals, poly clinics, pharmacies and diagnostic centres across the UAE, Qatar, Oman and Saudi Arabia. He is also involved in development of healthcare facilities in India. (UAE) Telecom
Raised in Uganda and then resident in the UK, Kataria led a joint venture between Telia of Sweden and Thailand-based Jasmine Telecom, which merged with Bharti Enterprises, owners of Airtel. He also has stakes in financial services companies in India. (India) Pharmaceuticals
Rajendra Agarwal, a doctor, established Macleod Pharmaceuticals in Mumbai in 1986.
The privately-held firm is one of the fastest growing pharma operations in India, focusing on making drugs to fight TB, Malaria and HIV.