Forbes: Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar among world’s 20 richest tech czars

New York: Wipro chairman Azim Premji and HCL founder Shiv Nadar are the only two Indian tycoons in the top 20 richest people in the world of technology, according to an inaugural list by Forbes that has been topped by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.

Premji is ranked 13th on Forbes’ first ever list of ‘100 Richest People In Tech’, followed by Nadar on the 14th spot.

Two Indian-origin technology czars Romesh Wadhwani and Bharat Desai are also in the list.

Forbes said Premji, 70, who has a net worth of $17.4 billion, is among Asia’s most generous tycoons, having given away more than $4 billion of his fortune.

Nadar has a net worth of $14.4 billion and gets bulk of his wealth from software services outfit HCL Technologies.

Wadhwani is ranked 73rd on the list with a $2.8 billion net worth. The 67-year-old IIT-alumnus is CEO and chairman of Symphony Technology Group, a collection of 20 companies spanning big data, analytics and software with combined annual revenue of three billion dollars.

In July 2015, he announced plans to commit up to $1 billion to the Wadhwani Foundations to fund entrepreneurship in India; he did not provide a timetable for the funding.