Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest technology tycoons

Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest technology tycoons

Wipro Chairman Azim Premji and HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar are the only two billionaires from India in Forbes’ list of the world’s 100 richest people in technology, ranking in the top 20 ahead of Google boss Eric Schmidt and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick.

Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest technology tycoons

The ‘100 Richest Tech Billionaires In The World 2016’ list has been topped by Microsoft founder Bill Gates with an estimated fortune of USD 78 billion.

Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest technology tycoons

Premji ranks 13th on the list with a networth of USD 16 billion and Nadar comes in on the 17th spot with USD 11.6 billion of net worth. 

Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest technology tycoons

Nadar co-founded HCL, which is reportedly mulling a US listing, Forbes said adding that Nadar also owns HCL TalentCare, a skills-development firm that provides training to new graduates. His latest venture is a USD 500 million fund to invest in startups and US healthcare tech firms.

Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest technology tycoons

China has the second highest number of tech tycoons, with 19 people worth a combined USD 132.7 billion. The richest Chinese member is Alibaba founder Jack Ma, who is on the 8th spot and has an estimated net worth of USD 25.8 billion.

Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest technology tycoons

Forbes said the second richest person in tech Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is also the biggest gainer on the list this year and has an estimated USD 66.2 billion fortune, an increase of USD 18.4 billion since this list was released last year.

Azim Premji, Shiv Nadar in Forbes list of 100 richest technology tycoons

That puts him ahead of Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, who comes in on the 4th spot. Ellison was also beaten by Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who climbed from fourth to third place thanks to a 30 percent jump in the value of Facebook’s stock; he is now also California’s richest person, another title that previously belonged to Ellison.