Meet Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder with Rs 16000 crore net worth who retired from Infosys board

Infosys has annonced that biocon chairperson and Indian billionaire Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw will retire from the company's board. She was an Independent Director at the company. Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani thanked the businesswoman for being an integral part of the company and providing guidance and leadership to the board of the company. He said she had been an amazing colleague since she joined the company's board in August 2017. Shaw join the company's board in the year 2014. She became the lead independent director of the information technology (IT) company in 2018.

The company said that D Sundaram, the Vice Chairman of TVS Capital, will become the Lead Independent Director of the board of Infosys. The action was taken on the recommendation of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee.

Other independent directors on Infosys Board include Prof John W Etchemendy (Stanford University's Provost), Roopa Kudva (former MD and CEO, Crisil), Dr Punita Kumar-Sinha (former Senior MD of Blackstone) and Jeffrey Sean Lehman (vice chancellor of NYU Shanghai).

Who is Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw?

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is one of India's richest self-made women. She founded biocon in 1978. The firm became very successful in the United States. The company runs Asia's largest insulin factory in Malaysia's Johor region.

Last year, she signed a deal to acquire the biosimilars business of a company called Viatris.

She was born in Bengaluru. She graduated with a bachelor's degree in zoology in 1973. She wanted to become a doctor but could not as she was not able to secure a scholarship. Her father worked at United Breweries in Bengaluru. She later studied malting and brewing from Melbourne University in Australia. She became the master brewer. She worked in India and abroad as a brewer. She began Biocon in the garage of her rented house. Her intial capital was Rs 10000. Her first employees was a retired garage mechanic.

Biocon's first projects were the extraction of papain, an enzyme from papaya used to tenderize meat, and isinglass, obtained from tropical catfish and used to clarify beer. Within a year, her company could export the enzymes to the US and Europe, the first firm to do so. She shifted her factory from a tin shade to a 20-acre property.

Bit by bit, her company began to grow. It has finally become a behemoth.

In 2019, she and her husband John Shaw donated 7.5 million dollars to the University of Glasgow.

She remained at the top of the list of the richest self-made women in India for several years. She was dethroned by Nykaa's Falguni Pathak last year. 

Her net worth is over Rs 16000 crore. 

Who is D Sundaram?

D Sundaram is the MD of TVS Capital Funds Limited. Her joined Unilever in 1975. He remained with the company for 34 years. He is also the Vice Chairman and Managing Director of TVS Capital Funds Limited.

He remained at several leadership positions in Unilever. He won the CFO of the Year for FMCG award two times.

He currently serves as an independent director on the boards of SBI General Insurance, GSK Pharma India, Crompton Greaves Consumer Limited and Trent Hyper Market (JV with TESCO).

He did his Post Graduate in Management Studies (MMS), Chennai, Fellow of the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants. He also completed Advanced Management Programme (AMP) from Harvard Business School.