Ambani couple, Premji, Kamath among Time's most influential philanthropists

Business Standard

20-05-2025

Billionaire industrialist Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani, former Wipro chairman Azim Premji and Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath have been named Tuesday by Time magazine in its inaugural list of the 100 most influential people in philanthropy.
The TIME100 Most Influential People in Philanthropy 2025 list tells the stories of how generous donors and leaders of foundations and non-profits are directing funding into the communities that need it most, according to the publication.
The list includes Mukesh and Nita Ambani who, Time said, gifted Rs 407 crore (about USD 48 million) in 2024, placing them among the country's biggest donors.
Noting that Mukesh and Nita Ambani are empowering millions, the Time profile said the billionaire philanthropist couple's charitable initiatives are as varied and wide-ranging as the business empire that earned them an estimated USD 110 billion fortune.
It listed the initiatives taken by Mukesh and Nita Ambani and added that Nita Ambani, founder and chair of the Reliance Foundation and a businesswoman in her own right, leads a number of the foundation's programmes.
On tech magnate Premji, Time said that today, he is better known as one of India's most generous philanthropists, directing his wealth to systematically improving India's public education system.
Premji was the first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge and in 2013 endowed the foundation he launched nearly 25 years ago with over USD 29 billion in shares from his company, Wipro.
In addition to disbursing traditional grantsUSD 109 million went to 940 organisations focused on education, health, and other areas in 2023-2024the foundation works directly with teachers and rural child care workers via 59 field offices and 263 teacher learning centres throughout India, on educational programmes that have so far helped over 8 million children, Time said.
In August, the foundation also committed around USD 175 million to expand school meal coverage for more than 5 million childrenall collectively reflecting Premji's philosophy, influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, to regard holding one's wealth in trusteeship, to be used for the betterment of society.
The list also includes co-founder of Zerodha Nikhil Kamath, who in 2023 at age 36 became the youngest Indian to sign the Giving Pledge. By then, he had already donated millions to environmental and educational projectsand started his own offshoot initiative, the Young India Philanthropic Pledge (YIPP), which asks Indians under age 45 with fortunes over USD 100 million to commit to giving away at least 25 per cent of their wealth, Time said.
It's a remarkable development for a high school dropout who started working for a Bangalore call centre as a teenager, and using his free time to trade stocks. In 2010, Kamath and his older brother Nithin founded Zerodha, now one of India's most successful discount brokerages, and within 13 years both had become billionaires, it added.
Kamath still likes to invest but he's increasingly focused on giving his money away. He and Nithin together have committed more than USD 100 million to their Rainmatter Foundation, which focuses on solutions to climate change.
YIPP has raised USD 8 million to fund projects such as upgrading 300 schools with better computers, career counseling, and other services. Kamath says he wants to improve conventional schools because education is the only democratising element that can close the inequality gap.
The list also includes legendary footballer David Beckham, billionaire philanthropist Warren Buffet, American philanthropist Melinda French Gates and Prince William and Catherine, Princess of Wales.