Sudha Murty
Encyclopedia
Sudha Murthy née Kulkarni is an Indian social worker, philanthropist, educator, author, and venture investor. Mrs. Murthy began her professional career as a computer scientist and engineer, but is best known for her role as Chairperson of the Infosys Foundation and her joint public health efforts with Melinda Gates
of the Gates Foundation. She has established several orphanages, participated in rural development efforts, and supported the movement to provide all government schools in Karnataka
with state-of-the-art computer and library facilities. Mrs. Murthy also teaches computer science
and composes fiction. Dollar Sose (English: Dollar Daughter-in-Law), a novel originally authored in Kannada
and later translated into English
as Dollar Bahu
, was adapted as a televised dramatic series by Zee TV
in 2001.
in northern Karnataka
, India
. The daughter of a reputed local physician Dr. S.R. Kulkarni, Mrs. Murthy and her siblings were raised by her parents and maternal grandparents of the Deshastha Brahmin
Kadim Diwan and Melgiri-Ron families. These childhood experiences form the historical basis for her first famous work entitled How I Taught my Grandmother to Read & Other Stories. Two institutions of higher learning, the H.R. Kadim Diwan Building housing the Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) department at IIT Kanpur and the Narayan Rao Melgiri Memorial National Law Library at NLSIU, were both endowed and inaugurated by the Infosys Foundation.
Mrs. Murthy completed a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology, standing first in her class and receiving a gold medal from the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Thereafter, she completed a M.E. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Science
, standing first in her class and receiving a gold medal from the Indian Institute of Engineers.
After graduation, Mrs. Murthy held the distinct honor of being the first female engineer hired at India's largest auto manufacturer TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company or TELCO (now the multinational Tata Motors
, which owns Jaguar Land Rover
and Daewoo
commercial vehicles). The backstory reveals that Mrs. Murthy had written a postcard to then company Chairman JRD Tata complaining of the "men only" gender bias at TELCO. As a result, she was granted a special interview and hired immediately on her merits. Mrs. Murthy later met her husband N.R. Narayana Murthy while employed as an engineer at TELCO in Pune; ironically, the couple's matchmaker G.K. Prasanna would later become the Global Head of Technology at Wipro
, a competitor to Infosys
in global IT services.
and venture capital firm Catamaran Ventures. In 1981, Mrs. Murthy invested Rs 10,000 ($250) to fund the then fledgling software start-up called Infosys Technologies. Thirty years later, at her husband N.R. Narayana Murthy's exit from Infosys
in 2011, that initial investment has been successfully managed into Infosys Foundation holdings valued at over Rs 30,000 crore ($7.5B). This growth translates into a 30-year annual return of 78%, making Sudha Murthy one of the most successful institutional investment managers in the world - surpassing Warren Buffett
's 36-year Berkshire Hathaway
annual return of 22%, Peter Lynch
's 13-year Magellan Fund
annual return of 29%, and George Soros
's 32-year Quantum Fund annual return of 30%.
Like other noteworthy charitable foundations (e.g., the Rockefeller Foundation
, the Ford Foundation
and the Gates Foundation; see List of wealthiest charitable foundations), the Infosys Foundation distributes funds for the betterment of Indian society through grants to various rural development, public health and educational projects (as detailed above) that promote socioeconomic growth and provide jobs for Indians. The capital is not hoarded or used for personal monetary gain as commonly observed in other Indian business legacies as indicated by the Bain & Company
report on the substandard state of philanthropic giving in India and Indian black money
hoarding in Swiss banks
as revealed by Wikileaks
's Julian Assange
.
This philanthropy explains why, despite their high net worth, the Murthy family is widely known to live a simple middle-class lifestyle.
in Chennai
.
In 2006, Mrs. Murthy was awarded the Padma Shri
, the highest-ranking civilian award from the Government of India
, and received an honorary doctorate for her contributions in the spheres of social work, philanthropy, and education.
In 2011, Mrs. Murthy and Justice Santosh Hegde were conferred honorary LL.D (Doctor of Laws) degrees for their contributions to promoting formal legal education and scholarship in India.
) and renowned Caltech astrophysicist Shrinivas Kulkarni
. Through her mother's side, she is a descendant of Sardar
Melgiri Pandit
of the Maratha Empire
who battled the invading Mughal
forces at Bijapur
(1685-86) in the War of 27 years
.
The Murthy couple has two grown children, Akshata and Rohan. In August 2009, Akshata married Stanford Business School classmate Rishi Sunak in a high-profile wedding ceremony held at the Leela Palace Bangalore. Akshata is a fashion entrepreneur and was formerly with Siderian Ventures, a clean technology venture capital firm located in San Francisco. Mr. Sunak, an Oxford graduate and Fulbright scholar, is a partner at the UK-based charitable hedge fund TCI
.
Rohan Murthy is a Cornell graduate and received a Microsoft
Fellowship to pursue advanced doctoral work in computer science at Harvard. In June 2011, Rohan married Lakshmi Venu Srinivasan, heiress to the TVS Group
dynasty via her father TVS Motors
Chairman Venu Srinivasan
.
Melinda Gates
Melinda Ann French , later known as Melinda French Gates, is an American businesswoman and philanthropist. She is the wife of Bill Gates...
of the Gates Foundation. She has established several orphanages, participated in rural development efforts, and supported the movement to provide all government schools in Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
with state-of-the-art computer and library facilities. Mrs. Murthy also teaches computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
and composes fiction. Dollar Sose (English: Dollar Daughter-in-Law), a novel originally authored in Kannada
Kannada language
Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...
and later translated into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as Dollar Bahu
Dollar Bahu
Dollar Bahu is a Hindi language television series that aired on Zee TV channel in 2001. The series is based on a popular novel, "Dollar Sosae" , written by the popular Indian philanthropist & columnist, Sudha Murthy. Due to the popularity, the novel was converted into a television series...
, was adapted as a televised dramatic series by Zee TV
Zee TV
Zee TV is an India-based satellite television channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, which broadcasts various programmes in Hindi and other regional languages of India. Broadcasting is also present in various nations of South Asia, Europe, the Middle East,...
in 2001.
Early life
Sudha Murthy was born on August 19, 1950 in the town of ShiggaonShiggaon
Shiggaon is a panchayat town in Haveri district in the Indian state of Karnataka.-Geography:Shiggaon is 465 km from Pune and 365 km from Bangalore on NH 4 .Shiggaon taluk was earlier in Dharwad district...
in northern Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. The daughter of a reputed local physician Dr. S.R. Kulkarni, Mrs. Murthy and her siblings were raised by her parents and maternal grandparents of the Deshastha Brahmin
Deshastha Brahmin
Deshastha Brahmins are the original and the oldest Hindu Brahmin sub-caste mainly from the Indian state of Maharashtra and some districts of northern Karnataka. The word Deshastha comes from the Sanskrit words Desha and Stha which mean inland or country and resident respectively...
Kadim Diwan and Melgiri-Ron families. These childhood experiences form the historical basis for her first famous work entitled How I Taught my Grandmother to Read & Other Stories. Two institutions of higher learning, the H.R. Kadim Diwan Building housing the Computer Science & Engineering (CSE) department at IIT Kanpur and the Narayan Rao Melgiri Memorial National Law Library at NLSIU, were both endowed and inaugurated by the Infosys Foundation.
Mrs. Murthy completed a B.E. in Electrical Engineering from the B.V.B. College of Engineering & Technology, standing first in her class and receiving a gold medal from the Chief Minister of Karnataka. Thereafter, she completed a M.E. in Computer Science from the Indian Institute of Science
Indian Institute of Science
Indian Institute of Science is a research institution of higher learning located in Bangalore, India. It was established in 1909.-History:After a chance meeting between Jamsetji N...
, standing first in her class and receiving a gold medal from the Indian Institute of Engineers.
After graduation, Mrs. Murthy held the distinct honor of being the first female engineer hired at India's largest auto manufacturer TATA Engineering and Locomotive Company or TELCO (now the multinational Tata Motors
Tata Motors
Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive corporation headquartered in Mumbai, India. Part of the Tata Group, it was formerly known as TELCO...
, which owns Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar Land Rover is a British automotive company owned by Tata Motors of India. It develops, manufactures and sells vehicles under the Jaguar and Land Rover marques.-History:...
and Daewoo
Daewoo
Daewoo or the Daewoo Group was a major South Korean chaebol . It was founded on 22 March 1967 as Daewoo Industrial and was dismantled by the Korean government in 1999...
commercial vehicles). The backstory reveals that Mrs. Murthy had written a postcard to then company Chairman JRD Tata complaining of the "men only" gender bias at TELCO. As a result, she was granted a special interview and hired immediately on her merits. Mrs. Murthy later met her husband N.R. Narayana Murthy while employed as an engineer at TELCO in Pune; ironically, the couple's matchmaker G.K. Prasanna would later become the Global Head of Technology at Wipro
Wipro
Wipro Limited formally Western India Products Limited is a global IT services and consulting company headquartered in Bangalore, India. As of 2011, Wipro is the second largest IT services company by turnover in India and employs more than 120,000 people worldwide as of March 2011...
, a competitor to Infosys
Infosys
Infosys Limited, formerly Infosys Technologies Limited is a global technology services company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It is the second largest IT exporter in India with 133,560 employees as of March 2011. It has offices in 33 countries and development centers in India, China,...
in global IT services.
Infosys Foundation
Mrs. Murthy is most widely recognized as the head of the Infosys Foundation as well as the seed investor behind InfosysInfosys
Infosys Limited, formerly Infosys Technologies Limited is a global technology services company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It is the second largest IT exporter in India with 133,560 employees as of March 2011. It has offices in 33 countries and development centers in India, China,...
and venture capital firm Catamaran Ventures. In 1981, Mrs. Murthy invested Rs 10,000 ($250) to fund the then fledgling software start-up called Infosys Technologies. Thirty years later, at her husband N.R. Narayana Murthy's exit from Infosys
Infosys
Infosys Limited, formerly Infosys Technologies Limited is a global technology services company headquartered in Bangalore, India. It is the second largest IT exporter in India with 133,560 employees as of March 2011. It has offices in 33 countries and development centers in India, China,...
in 2011, that initial investment has been successfully managed into Infosys Foundation holdings valued at over Rs 30,000 crore ($7.5B). This growth translates into a 30-year annual return of 78%, making Sudha Murthy one of the most successful institutional investment managers in the world - surpassing Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is widely regarded as one of the most successful investors in the world. Often introduced as "legendary investor, Warren Buffett", he is the primary shareholder, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is...
's 36-year Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway Inc. is an American multinational conglomerate holding company headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, United States, that oversees and manages a number of subsidiary companies. The company averaged an annual growth in book value of 20.3% to its shareholders for the last 44 years,...
annual return of 22%, Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch
Peter Lynch is a Wall Street stock investor. He is currently a research consultant at Fidelity Investments. Lynch graduated from Boston College in 1965 and earned a Master of Business Administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1968.-Fidelity:Lynch was hired as an...
's 13-year Magellan Fund
Magellan Fund
The Fidelity Magellan Fund is a US-domiciled mutual fund from the Fidelity family of funds. It is perhaps the world’s best known actively managed mutual fund...
annual return of 29%, and George Soros
George Soros
George Soros is a Hungarian-American business magnate, investor, philosopher, and philanthropist. He is the chairman of Soros Fund Management. Soros supports progressive-liberal causes...
's 32-year Quantum Fund annual return of 30%.
Like other noteworthy charitable foundations (e.g., the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
, the Ford Foundation
Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is a private foundation incorporated in Michigan and based in New York City created to fund programs that were chartered in 1936 by Edsel Ford and Henry Ford....
and the Gates Foundation; see List of wealthiest charitable foundations), the Infosys Foundation distributes funds for the betterment of Indian society through grants to various rural development, public health and educational projects (as detailed above) that promote socioeconomic growth and provide jobs for Indians. The capital is not hoarded or used for personal monetary gain as commonly observed in other Indian business legacies as indicated by the Bain & Company
Bain & Company
Bain & Company is a global management consulting firm headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts. Bain is considered one of the most prestigious consulting firms in the world, with 47 offices in 30 countries and over 5,500 professionals on staff globally...
report on the substandard state of philanthropic giving in India and Indian black money
Indian black money
Black money refers to funds earned on the black market, on which income and other taxes has not been paid. The total amount of black money deposited in foreign banks by Indians is unknown, but one estimate by R Vaidyanathan, a Professor of Finance, estimated the total at over ₹ 7,280,000...
hoarding in Swiss banks
Banking in Switzerland
All banks in Switzerland are regulated by Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority , which derives its authority from a series of federal statutes...
as revealed by Wikileaks
Wikileaks
WikiLeaks is an international self-described not-for-profit organisation that publishes submissions of private, secret, and classified media from anonymous news sources, news leaks, and whistleblowers. Its website, launched in 2006 under The Sunshine Press organisation, claimed a database of more...
's Julian Assange
Julian Assange
Julian Paul Assange is an Australian publisher, journalist, writer, computer programmer and Internet activist. He is the editor in chief of WikiLeaks, a whistleblower website and conduit for worldwide news leaks with the stated purpose of creating open governments.WikiLeaks has published material...
.
This philanthropy explains why, despite their high net worth, the Murthy family is widely known to live a simple middle-class lifestyle.
Awards
In 2004, Sudha Murthy was presented with the Raja-Lakshmi Award "in recognition of her outstanding contribution to social work" by the Sri Raja-Lakshmi FoundationSri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation
Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation is a Charitable Trust that promotes Arts, Sciences, Literature, Medicine, Journalism, Humanities and other intellectual pursuits and to honour distinguished persons in these fields. Established in 1979 in Chennai by P.V...
in Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
.
In 2006, Mrs. Murthy was awarded the Padma Shri
Padma Shri
Padma Shri is the fourth highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan...
, the highest-ranking civilian award from the Government of India
Government of India
The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...
, and received an honorary doctorate for her contributions in the spheres of social work, philanthropy, and education.
In 2011, Mrs. Murthy and Justice Santosh Hegde were conferred honorary LL.D (Doctor of Laws) degrees for their contributions to promoting formal legal education and scholarship in India.
Personal details
Mrs. Murthy is the wife of software industrialist N.R. Narayana Murthy. She is the sister of Bangalore-based obstetrician Dr. Sunanda Kulkarni, Boston-based Jayshree Deshpande (spouse of multibillionaire telecom tycoon Gururaj DeshpandeGururaj Deshpande
Gururaj Deshpande is an Indian American venture capitalist and entrepreneur, who is best known for co-founding the Chelmsford, MA-based internet equipment manufacturer Sycamore Networks, the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT and the Deshpande Foundation.Presently, Deshpande is...
) and renowned Caltech astrophysicist Shrinivas Kulkarni
Shrinivas Kulkarni
Shrinivas R. Kulkarni FRS is a professor of astrophysics and planetary science at California Institute of Technology. He is on the Space Interferometry Mission science team and is the director of optical observatories at California Institute of Technology, including Palomar and Keck.Kulkarni is...
. Through her mother's side, she is a descendant of Sardar
Sardar
Sardar is a title of Indo-Aryan origin that was originally used to denote feudal princes, noblemen, and other aristocrats. It was later applied to indicate a Head of State, a Commander-in-chief, and an Army military rank...
Melgiri Pandit
Melgiri Pandit
Melgiri Pandit was a Sardar that served under Emporer Sambhaji of the Maratha Empire...
of the Maratha Empire
Maratha Empire
The Maratha Empire or the Maratha Confederacy was an Indian imperial power that existed from 1674 to 1818. At its peak, the empire covered much of South Asia, encompassing a territory of over 2.8 million km²....
who battled the invading Mughal
Mughal Empire
The Mughal Empire , or Mogul Empire in traditional English usage, was an imperial power from the Indian Subcontinent. The Mughal emperors were descendants of the Timurids...
forces at Bijapur
Bijapur, Karnataka
Bijapur Urdu:بیجاپور city is the district headquarters of Bijapur District of Karnataka state. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural importance built during the rule of Adil Shahi dynasty...
(1685-86) in the War of 27 years
War of 27 years
The Maratha War of Independence The Maratha War of Independence The Maratha War of Independence (also termed the War of 27 yegfuyfyuffygement in the history of India. The Maratha Empire eventually emerged victorious.-Background:...
.
The Murthy couple has two grown children, Akshata and Rohan. In August 2009, Akshata married Stanford Business School classmate Rishi Sunak in a high-profile wedding ceremony held at the Leela Palace Bangalore. Akshata is a fashion entrepreneur and was formerly with Siderian Ventures, a clean technology venture capital firm located in San Francisco. Mr. Sunak, an Oxford graduate and Fulbright scholar, is a partner at the UK-based charitable hedge fund TCI
TCI
-Medicine:*Transient Cerebral Ischaemic attack, see Transient ischemic attack*Tricyclic antidepressant medication*Target Controlled Infusion, a method for controlling intravenous infusions.-Psychology:*Theme-Centered Interaction, a method of psychotherapy by Dr...
.
Rohan Murthy is a Cornell graduate and received a Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
Fellowship to pursue advanced doctoral work in computer science at Harvard. In June 2011, Rohan married Lakshmi Venu Srinivasan, heiress to the TVS Group
TVS group
TVS Group is an Indian diversified industrial conglomerate with its principal headquarters located in Chennai and Madurai. Almost all holdings of the group are private...
dynasty via her father TVS Motors
TVS Motors
TVS Motor Company is the third largest two-wheeler manufacturer in India.It is the flagship company of the parent TVS Group employing over 40,000 people with an estimated 15 million customers. It manufactures motorcycles, scooters, mopeds and auto rickshaws...
Chairman Venu Srinivasan
Venu Srinivasan
Venu Srinivasan is an Indian industrialist; the Chairman and Managing Director of Sundaram Clayton Ltd and TVS Motor Company, the third largest two wheeler manufacturer in India. He also served as the President of Confederation of Indian Industry for the year 2009-10...
.