Romesh Wadhwani
{{Short description|Indian-American businessman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Romesh T. Wadhwani
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1947|8}}
| birth_place = Karachi, British India
| citizenship = United States
| alma_mater = IIT Bombay
Carnegie Mellon University
| occupation =
| known_for = Internet companies, philanthropy
| spouse = Kathleen "Kathy" Wadhwani
| children = 1 daughter
| relatives = Sunil Wadhwani (brother)
}}
Romesh T. Wadhwani (born 1947) is an Indian-American billionaire,{{Cite magazine |last=Rajvanshi |first=Astha |date=2023-09-07 |title=TIME100 AI 2023: Romesh and Sunil Wadhwani |url=https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/6308290/romesh-and-sunil-wadhwani/ |access-date=2024-05-20 |magazine=Time |language=en}} businessman and head of investment firm SAIGroup.{{Cite web |last=Fannin |first=Rebecca |date=2023-12-08 |title=How a 75-year-old Indian-American tech entrepreneur is betting $1 billion of his own fortune on AI's future |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/08/75-year-old-tech-mogul-betting-1-billion-of-his-fortune-on-ai-future.html |access-date=2024-05-20 |website=CNBC |language=en}} He is the former chairman and CEO of Symphony Technology Group, a private equity firm for software, Internet and technology services companies. 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.{{Cite web |last=Tripathi |first=Naandika |date=29 April 2022 |title=Romesh Wadhwani: Building Up, And Giving Away |url=https://www.forbesindia.com/article/2022-billionaires/romesh-wadhwani-building-up-and-giving-away/75819/1 |access-date=2024-05-06 |website=Forbes India |language=en}}
Early life
Romesh T. Wadhwani was born in a Sindhi Hindu family in Karachi, Pakistan, 10 days after India and Pakistan gained Independence from Britain in August 1947.{{cite web|url=https://www.fortuneindia.com/people/how-to-create-jobs-by-the-million/100405|title=How to create jobs by the million|first=Ashish|last=Gupta|work=Fortune India|date=5 June 2015|access-date=7 May 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330135426/http://www.fortuneindia.com/people/how-to-create-jobs-by-the-million/100405|archive-date=30 March 2018|quote=The white-haired, soft-spoken Sindhi was born in Karachi, and later moved to India with his parents.}} His family moved to India following Indian independence. He contracted polio at age 2 and had difficulty getting admission to school.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/mrinalinikrishna/2016/10/05/qa-with-immigrant-billionaire-romesh-wadhwani-america-needs-immigrants-2/|title=Q&A With Immigrant Billionaire Romesh Wadhwani: America Needs Immigrants|first=Mrinalini|last=Krishna|website=Forbes}} He received a bachelor's degree from the IIT Bombay, and master's and PhD degrees in electrical engineering from Carnegie Mellon University.{{cite web|title=Forbes profile: Romesh T. Wadhwani|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/romesh-t-wadhwani/|website=Forbes|access-date=20 November 2019}}
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.{{Cite news|last1=Cuff|first1=Daniel F.|last2=Times|first2=Special To the New York|date=1985-06-13|title=ROBOT MAKER FINDS A NICHE (Published 1985)|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/06/13/business/robot-maker-finds-a-niche.html|access-date=2021-01-22|issn=0362-4331}}
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.
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.{{Citation needed|date=June 2017}}
Together with his brother, Sunil Wadhwani, he has founded Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Mumbai to develop artificial intelligence solutions for public good.{{Cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/ites/indias-first-ai-research-institute-opened-in-mumbai/articleshow/63000704.cms|title=India's first AI research institute opened in Mumbai|last=Christopher|first=Nilesh|date=2018-02-20|work=The Economic Times|access-date=2020-01-16}}
Wadhwani has invested $1 billion in predictive and generative AI SaaS company SymphonyAI.{{cite news |last1=Fannin |first1=Rebecca |title=How a 75-year-old Indian-American tech entrepreneur is betting $1 billion of his own fortune on AI's future |url=https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/08/75-year-old-tech-mogul-betting-1-billion-of-his-fortune-on-ai-future.html |access-date=15 July 2024 |agency=CNBC |publisher=CNBC |date=8 December 2023}}
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.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}
He established the Wadhwani Foundation for economic development in emerging economies in 2000, 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.forbesindia.com/article/philanthropy-awards-2013/romesh-wadhwani-the-renaissance-man/36661/1|title=Romesh Wadhwani: The Renaissance Man - Forbes India|website=Forbes India|access-date=22 February 2018}}
Personal life
He is married to Kathleen "Kathy" Wadhwani,{{cite web|url=http://glasspockets.org/philanthropy-in-focus/eye-on-the-giving-pledge/profiles/dr.-romesh-and-kathleen-wadhwani|title=Wadhwani|website=glasspockets.org|access-date=22 February 2018}} and they live in Palo Alto, California.
They have one daughter, Melina, who married Patrick Carey in 2011.{{cite web |title=2011-08-31 Wadhwani - Carey Family Party - Singularity University |url=https://singularityu.org/2011-08-31-wadhwani-carey-family-party/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180222165418/https://singularityu.org/2011-08-31-wadhwani-carey-family-party/ |archive-date=2018-02-22 |access-date=22 February 2018 |website=singularityu.org}}{{cite web|url=https://www.insideweddings.com/weddings/oceanfront-ceremony-opulent-pink-and-metallic-reception/407/|title=Oceanfront Ceremony & Opulent Pink and Metallic Reception|website=insideweddings.com|access-date=22 February 2018}} Carey works as head of sales operations at Symphony Talent.{{cite web|url=http://resources.symphonytalent.com/blog/mastering-your-employer-brand-to-fuel-talent-acquisition|title=Mastering Your Employer Brand to Fuel Talent Acquisition|first=Sheridan|last=Gaenger|website=symphonytalent.com|date=5 July 2016 |access-date=22 February 2018}}
Honours
Wadhwani was awarded an honorary doctorate by the IIT Bombay in August 2018.{{Cite news|url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ani/romesh-wadhwani-conferred-with-degree-of-doctor-of-science-by-iit-bombay-118081100722_1.html|title=Romesh Wadhwani conferred with degree of Doctor of Science by IIT Bombay|last=ANI|date=2018-08-11|work=Business Standard India|access-date=2020-01-16}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Trade & Industry}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wadhwani, Romesh}}
Category:American computer businesspeople
Category:American billionaires
Category:Carnegie Mellon University College of Engineering alumni
Category:21st-century American philanthropists
Category:American chief executives
Category:American company founders
Category:American people of Sindhi descent
Category:Indian emigrants to the United States
Category:Indian chief executives
Category:Indian company founders