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Shiv Nadar

Founder, Sofi

Search every verified Shiv Nadar interview, podcast appearance, and on-the-record quote — each transcript cross-checked by AI and human review to confirm speaker identity. Shiv Nadar, the founder of HCL Technologies and the Shiv Nadar Foundation, has spoken extensively about his background, his approach to business, and his philanthropic work. He has described growing up in a village and being raised by a mother he credits with instilling financial discipline, stating, "In my personal life I have not borrowed; my company has not taken a single rupee from anyone as a loan or as a equity." He has characterized success as being defined by "how little money you need" and has advised that "there are only two kinds of people: one who is successful, other could not take the decision." In addresses to students, he has encouraged embracing failure as a test of growth, saying, "If you don't fail, you haven't tested yourself." Nadar has detailed the founding of HCL in 1976 with a capital of one lakh 87,000 rupees and the subsequent creation of the Shiv Nadar Foundation in 1994, which he said was established with the purpose of "transforming the social fabric by creating leadership academies." He has described the foundation's work as focusing on "creative philanthropy" and "corrective philanthropy," with initiatives like the VidyaGyan school and the Shiksha program aimed at addressing illiteracy. Nadar has stated that the foundation has spent "in excess of 5,000 crores" and that its efforts are intended to "stand well beyond the lives of the founder." He has also emphasized that he does not hold employees or partners to contracts, asserting that "people finally do business with people."

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