With age on her side, HCL founder Shiv Nadar's daughter is preparing for the long haul.
On August 11, the day we met Roshni Nadar Malhotra, HCL was celebrating its 40th birthday. White and blue balloons decked up the lobby. Posters at the new Noida campus gave a glimpse of the corporation’s history. “At the height of the Indian emergency, a group of fearless men got together in a garage,” a poster noted. “In 1978, alongside Apple, and three years before IBM, we launched one of the world’s first PCs. And as India moved on to be a global IT hub, we were there.” HCL’s current size was highlighted at the bottom – $7 billion; 110,000 minds; 31 countries.
Shiv Nadar, who led the “group of fearless men”, is now 71. The Chairman of HCL is one of India’s richest business tycoons with a net worth of over $11 billion. He is passing the baton. And the past few years have been about the rise of his only child Roshni – the inheritor of everything he has created. She joined the board of HCL Corporation in September 2008 and was appointed the CEO in April 2009.
Under her leadership, HCL is changing colours. For years, it was a technology company – the biggest egg in the basket is HCL Technologies, the IT services firm, which generated revenues of $6.4 billion for the year ended June 2016. Then, there is HCL Infosystems, a distribution and IT solutions company. In 2014, however, things started changing with HCL incubating a healthcare business and followed it up with HCL TalentCare, a skills training company, in 2015. This diversification appears well thought out. “HCL Corp always wanted to diversify,” says Roshni. “Our balance sheet was expanding. You could either have all the money parked in the bank, earning 10 per cent, or invest it in newer areas. With my age and that of my husband, we have the luxury of time.” Husband Shikhar Malhotra is also on the board of HCL Corp and is the Vice Chairman of HCL Healthcare.
This story is from the October 09 , 2016 edition of Business Today.
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This story is from the October 09 , 2016 edition of Business Today.
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