Romesh Wadhwani

Romesh T. Wadhwani (born 1947/48) is an Indian-American billionaire businessman, the founder, chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology Group (STG), a private equity firm for software, Internet and technology services companies.

Romesh T. Wadhwani
Born1947 or 1948 (age 75–76)[1]
Karachi, British India
CitizenshipUnited States
Alma materIIT Bombay
Carnegie Mellon University
Occupation(s)Founder and chairman of Symphony Technology Group
Known forInternet companies, philanthropy
SpouseKathleen "Kathy" Wadhwani
Children1 daughter
RelativesSunil Wadhwani (brother)

Early life

Romesh T. Wadhwani was born in Karachi, British India (now Pakistan), and his family moved to India following its independence post-1947. He is of Sindhi origin.[2] He contracted polio aged 2 and had difficulty getting admission in school.[3] He received a bachelor's degree from the IIT Bombay, and master's and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.[1]

Career

For ten years, Wadhwani was the founder, chairman, and CEO of two companies, one (American Robot Corporation) specializing in software and solutions for computer-integrated manufacturing and the other (Compu-Guard Corporation) in technology-enabled energy management.[4]

Wadhwani was then the founder, chairman, and CEO of Aspect Development, Inc., from its startup in 1991 to its acquisition in 1999 by i2 Technologies for $9.3 billion in stock.[1]

Wadhwani is the executive chairman of Symphony Teleca Corporation, MSC Software Inc, Symphony Health Solutions Inc, and Shopzilla Inc, and is on the board of Information Resources Inc. Wadhwani is the largest limited partner in each of Symphony's private equity funds, the third of which closed at $870 million.

Together with his brother, Sunil Wadhwani, he has founded Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Mumbai to develop artificial intelligence solutions for public good.[5]

Philanthropy

Wadhwani is on the board of trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, both in Washington, D.C.

He established the Wadhwani Foundation for economic development in emerging economies, with an initial focus on India. Initiatives in India include the National Entrepreneurship Network, which has established programs to enable growth-centric entrepreneurship at over 500 universities and colleges; a skills college network to help train and place large numbers of young adults in vocational jobs; an opportunities network for the disabled; and a research initiative in biosciences and biotechnology to help create jobs through innovation. The Foundation has launched a US-India policy initiative, with Rick Inderfurth, previously Assistant Secretary of State, as the Wadhwani Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a policy think tank in Washington, D.C., and Hemant Singh, former Indian Ambassador to Japan, as the head of the Wadhwani program at ICRIER, a major policy institute in Delhi. Wadhwani won the India Abroad Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2013.

In 2012, he inaugurated a new research centre at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) in Bangalore, named after his late mother, Shanta Wadhwani.[6]

Personal life

He is married to Kathleen "Kathy" Wadhwani,[6][7] and they live in Palo Alto, California.[1]

They have one daughter, Melina, who married Patrick Carey in 2011.[8][9] Carey works as head of sales operations at Symphony Talent.[10]

Honours

Wadhwani was awarded an honorary doctorate by the IIT Bombay in August 2018.[11]

References
  1. "Forbes profile: Romesh T. Wadhwani". Forbes. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
  2. Gupta, Ashish (5 June 2015). "How to create jobs by the million". Fortune India. Archived from the original on 30 March 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2020. The white-haired, soft-spoken Sindhi was born in Karachi, and later moved to India with his parents.
  3. Krishna, Mrinalini. "Q&A With Immigrant Billionaire Romesh Wadhwani: America Needs Immigrants". Forbes.
  4. Cuff, Daniel F.; Times, Special To the New York (13 June 1985). "ROBOT MAKER FINDS A NICHE (Published 1985)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 22 January 2021.
  5. Christopher, Nilesh (20 February 2018). "India's first AI research institute opened in Mumbai". The Economic Times. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
  6. "Romesh Wadhwani: The Renaissance Man - Forbes India". Forbes India. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  7. "Wadhwani". glasspockets.org. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  8. "2011-08-31 Wadhwani - Carey Family Party - Singularity University". singularityu.org. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  9. "Oceanfront Ceremony & Opulent Pink and Metallic Reception". insideweddings.com. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  10. Gaenger, Sheridan (5 July 2016). "Mastering Your Employer Brand to Fuel Talent Acquisition". symphonytalent.com. Retrieved 22 February 2018.
  11. ANI (11 August 2018). "Romesh Wadhwani conferred with degree of Doctor of Science by IIT Bombay". Business Standard India. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
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