Back to resources

Why millionaires are giving away their wealth

Strategic Philanthropy | Nov 17, 2017

This story was selected by TOI Guest Editor Bill Gates.
BENGALURU: “I didn’t know I was going to become this rich,” says philanthropist Rohini Nilekani, when asked what moves her to give, “but when it became clear that I would come into money, I
wanted to do good.” The first chunk of Rs 100 crore that she got from the sale of Infosys shares in 2013 went entirely into Arghyam Foundation that works on water and sanitation, which she set up in 2001.

View PDF

More like this

Strategic Philanthropy

Collaborative Giving and the Path Ahead for Indian Philanthropy

This is an edited version of Rohini Nilekani’s opening address on Collaborative Giving and the Path Ahead for Indian Philanthropy, on Philanthropy Day at DPW, 2016. This is a really exciting point in the history of Indian philanthropy, where almost anything seems possible. It’s also a point where we need to be thinking about collaboration […]
May 3, 2016 | Speech

Strategic Philanthropy

Learning the Art of Giving

For Rohini Nilekani, making the money was the easy part. The Bangalore-based wife of Infosys CEO Nandan Nilekani, Rohini owns 1.67% of the Indian outsourcing company, and her personal fortune soared to about $300 million along with the meteoric rise of its stock. She calls her windfall “a quite frightening amount of money.” And as […]
Sep 4, 2006 | Article

Strategic Philanthropy

Asia's 2018 Heroes Of Philanthropy: Charity Is New To India's New-Economy Titans

Among the newly rich, the idea of social philanthropy is just settling in, says Rohini Nilekani, wife of tech billionaire and Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani and founder of Arghyam, a foundation focusing on water and sanitation. The Nilekanis are among India’s leading philanthropists and one of the seven Indian families to sign the Gates-Buffett Giving […]
Nov 15, 2018 | Personality

COVID-19  |  Strategic Philanthropy

Taking Risks in the Face of a Pandemic

2020 has been a sobering year for the philanthropy sector, not just in India, but globally. We have witnessed rising inequality even in these past 6 months, with a few of the rich getting even richer while hundreds of millions of people fell behind in the ensuing economic slowdown. There are some who had just […]
Dec 26, 2020 |