Ashok Soota
Ashok Soota | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 12, 1942 |
| Education | IIT Roorkee |
| Years active | 1965 - present |
| Known for | Wipro, Mindtree, Happiest Minds |
Ashok Soota is an Indian billionaire and entrepreneur.[1][2][3][4] He has been a part of IT companies such as Wipro, Mindtree, and Happiest Minds Technologies.[5][6][1]
Early life and education
Ashok Soota was born on November 12th, 1942. He earned a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Roorkee in 1964.[7]
Career
Wipro
Ashok helped grow Wipro's IT business from a $2 million hardware firm into a $2 billion(₹17,500 crore) market cap company [8] and India's second-largest IT company after TCS by the end of the 1990s.[5] Soota was hired by Azim Premji in 1985 to expand Wipro.[9]
Mindtree
In 1999, Soota co-founded Mindtree, an IT services company, alongside nine others. He served as chairman and managing director. [10] The company had a market cap of $21 Billion(₹1.861 trillion) as of 2024.[11]
Happiest Minds Technologies
In 2011, Soota founded Happiest Minds Technologies, a digital transformation and IT consulting firm. The company went public in 2020, with its initial public offering (IPO) being oversubscribed 151 times.[12] As of 2023, Happiest Minds had around 5,000 employees and a global presence. [13] [3][5][14]
Philanthropy
In 2021, Soota established the Scientific Knowledge for Ageing and Neurological Ailments (SKAN) Research Trust, a not-for-profit medical research institution focusing on aging and neurological disorders.[15][16][17] He pledged ₹600 crore (approx. USD 75 million) over 10 years to fund its activities.[18] SKAN has collaborations with institutions such as Cambridge University[19] and the Quadram Institute in the United Kingdom.[20]
References
- ^ a b S. S. Vasan (April 10, 2019). "Ashok Soota: The mind behind an Industree". LiveMint.
- ^ "Growing Mindtree: Can Added Services and a Gardener Help the IT Firm Reach New Heights?". Knowledge@Wharton, University of Pennsylvania. March 18, 2014.
- ^ a b "Forbes Staff. "Ashok Soota – Profile". Forbes. Retrieved June 1, 2025". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
- ^ "Bhatia, Kritika. "Meet 77-year-old Ashok Soota, whose Happiest Minds stock more than doubled on debut". CNBC TV18. Published September 17, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2025". CNBCTV18. 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
- ^ a b c "Chakravarty, Sumati. "Ashok Soota: Thinking Big And Taking Path Less Travelled, Even With Philanthropy". Forbes India. Published March 28, 2024. Retrieved June 1, 2025". Forbes India. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
- ^ "Singh, Rajesh Kurup. "A 79-year-old tech pioneer aims for his third startup IPO". The Economic Times – HRWorld. Published July 25, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2025".
- ^ Sharma, Anjali. "Ashok Soota". Business Magazine - Magazines for CEOs | The CEO Magazine. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
- ^ "PTI (Press Trust of India). "Wipro market cap rises to Rs 39,500 cr". The Times of India. Published April 16, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2025".
- ^ Team, DNA Web. "Team, DNA Web. "This 80-year-old led IT giant for 15 years, then built his own empire including Rs 13,000 crore firm, net worth is...". DNA India. Published December 9, 2021. Retrieved June 1, 2025". DNA India. Retrieved 2025-06-01.
- ^ "Khanna, Sundeep, and Sood, Varun. "The Inside Story of the Mindtree Shakedown". Mint. Published April 5, 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2025".
- ^ "Gupta, Cherry. "Top 10 largest IT companies in India by market cap, as of 2024". The Indian Express. Published September 18, 2024. Retrieved June 1, 2025".
- ^ "Moneycontrol News Team. "Final Day: Happiest Minds IPO subscribed 10.5 times; retail book at 45 times". Moneycontrol. Published September 9, 2020. Retrieved June 1, 2025".
- ^ "TNN (The Times of India News). "IT firm Happiest Minds revenue up 11% in FY24". The Times of India. Published May 8, 2024. Retrieved June 1, 2025".
- ^ Ashok Soota
- ^ "SKAN research trust - Biovoice news desk".
- ^ "Indiabioscience desk - SKAN research".
- ^ ""Ashok Soota commits ₹200 crore for launch of SKAN Medical Research Trust," Mint, 20 March 2021. Author: Not specified".
- ^ "DNA Web Team. "Meet man, who donated Rs 600 crore, founder of four companies...". DNA India. Published April 4, 2022. Retrieved June 1, 2025".
- ^ "Puhl, Laura. "SKAN Research Trust and Wellcome-MRC Cambridge Stem Cell Institute to collaborate in stem cell research". Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. Published September 6, 2023. Retrieved June 1, 2025".
- ^ "Quadram Institute Bioscience. "SKAN Research Trust and Quadram Institute Bioscience to Develop Novel Microbial Therapies". Published June 13, 2024. Retrieved June 1, 2025".