Roshni Nadar Malhotra, first woman to head a listed Indian IT firm, among Forbes most powerful women list 2020

Image Courtesy: Forbes

New Delhi: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Biocon Founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and HCL Enterprise CEO Roshni Nadar Malhotra have been named among the world's 100 most powerful women by Forbes 2020.

The women on the 17th annual Forbes Power List hail from 30 countries and were born across four generations that includes 10 heads of state, 38 CEOs and five entertainers.

Sitharaman is ranked 41st on the list, Nadar Malhotra comes in at the 55th spot, Mazumdar-Shaw -- described as India's richest self-made woman -- is ranked 68th and chairwoman of Landmark Group Renuka Jagtiani is ranked 98th.

39-year-old Roshni Nadar Malhotra is also the youngest woman to achieve this feat in Forbes Technology category.

Interestingly, Roshni Nadar Malhotra in July this year (2020) became the first woman to head a listed Indian IT company as she took over as the Chairperson of USD 8.9 billion HCL Technologies from her father and billionaire Shiv Nadar.

Here is all you want to know about Roshni Nadar Malhotra

Roshni came on the board of HCL Technologies in 2013 and was Vice Chairperson. She will continue as CEO of HCL Corporation, the holding company for all the group entities.

Roshni is also a trained classical musician. She studied at Vasant Valley School, Delhi and graduated in communication with a focus in radio/TV/film from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois.

She also pursued MBA from Kellogg School of Management.

She worked with Sky News UK and CNN America as a news producer before joining HCL Corp in 2009, and within a year was made executive director and then CEO at the age of 27.

Roshni married Shikhar Malhotra, Vice Chairman of HCL Healthcare, in 2010 and the couple has two sons -- Armaan and Jahaan.

As per Kotak Wealth Management and Hurun India 2020 list of India's 100 richest women, Roshni is India's richest woman with a net worth of Rs 54,850 crore.

In 2019, she ranked 54th on the Forbes World''s 100 Most Powerful Women list.

A passionate environmentalist, Roshni established The Habitats Trust in 2018 that works towards protecting India's natural habitats and its indigenous species. She has driven transformational efforts in the area of education as a trustee of the Shiv Nadar Foundation.

Roshni has received several honours and accolades in recognition of her work both in business and in philanthropy.

She featured in ''The World''s 100 Most Powerful Women'' list compiled and released by Forbes in 2017, 2018, and 2019, consecutively.

She was also conferred with the Lewis Institute Community Changemaker Award by Babson College in 2017 and was recognized by Horasis, an internationally renowned think tank, as the Indian Business Leader of the Year 2019.

Roshni is also an alumnus of the Forum of Young Global Leaders (YGL, 2014-19), a unique and diverse community of the world's most outstanding, next-generation leaders, an initiative of the World Economic Forum.

With PTI Inputs