INTELLIGENCE · PERSON DOSSIER
UPDATED 2026-08-13Nandan Nilekani
Technologists
Infosys · India
Net worth
US$2.5bn
Source of wealth
Infosys shareholding
Infosys stake
2.31% (March 2018)
Giving vehicle
Nilekani Philanthropies; Giving Pledge signatory
Largest disclosed personal donation
US$38m to IIT Bombay (2023)
Identity & Ownership
Current role
Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, Infosys
Non-executive chairman of Infosys since 24 August 2017, when he returned to the board he had left in 2009. Infosys lists him as Co-founder and Chairman.
Best known for
Founding chairman of UIDAI and architect of Aadhaar
Led the Unique Identification Authority of India from 2009 to 2014, building Aadhaar, the world's largest biometric identity system, and the digital identity layer beneath what became known as India Stack.
Born
2 June 1955, Bangalore, India
Born in Bangalore, then Mysore State, now Karnataka. Aged 71 as of 2026.
Nationality
Indian
Based
Bengaluru, India
Forbes lists his residence as Bangalore, India.
Education
B.Tech, Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay
Schooled at Bishop Cotton Boys' School, Bangalore, and St Joseph's High School, Dharwad, with pre-university at Karnatak College, Dharwad, before IIT Bombay.
Other current roles
Chairman, EkStep Foundation; co-founder, Fundamentum Partnership
Also president of the National Council of Applied Economic Research and a board member of the World Economic Forum Foundation. Stepped back from the general partner role at Fundamentum in July 2026 while remaining an anchor investor.
Spouse
Rohini Nilekani
Married 1981. Rohini Nilekani is a philanthropist and author who chairs Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies; the couple run separate giving vehicles. Two children, Nihar and Janhavi.
Personal Wealth & Holdings
Net worth
US$2.5bn
Forbes real-time billionaires estimate as of 12 August 2026, ranking him #1657 in the world. Forbes classes the wealth as self-made, from software services. Treat as an estimate: Forbes marks live valuations to Infosys's share price.
Source of wealth
Infosys shareholding
Forbes attributes the fortune to his co-founding stake in Infosys, which he continues to hold. He has also backed the venture fund Fundamentum.
Infosys stake
2.31% (March 2018)
Reported holding as at March 2018. Not verified against a current Infosys shareholding filing; the figure may have moved.
Giving vehicle
Nilekani Philanthropies; Giving Pledge signatory
Nandan and Rohini Nilekani signed the Giving Pledge in 2017, committing at least half their wealth to philanthropy. Their giving runs through EkStep, Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and the Indian Institute for Human Settlements.
Largest disclosed personal donation
US$38m to IIT Bombay (2023)
Donation to his alma mater, reported by Forbes. He had earlier funded restoration of an IIT Bombay hostel.
Background
Patni Computer Systems, from 1978
Joined Patni Computer Systems in Mumbai after IIT Bombay, where he met N. R. Narayana Murthy.
1981, one of seven founders
Co-founded Infosys with N. R. Narayana Murthy and five others. Held managing director, president and chief operating officer roles before becoming chief executive.
March 2002 to April 2007
Revenue grew roughly sixfold during his tenure, to about US$3bn. He then served as co-chairman of the board from 2007 until his 2009 departure for government.
Resignation effective 9 July 2009
Stepped down as co-chairman of Infosys to take up the UIDAI chairmanship, announced by Infosys on 25 June 2009.
Founding chairman, 2009 to 2014, with cabinet rank
Invited by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to head the Unique Identification Authority of India in the rank of a cabinet minister. He describes himself as the programme's first employee.
Chaired the RBI High Level Committee on Deepening of Digital Payments, 2019
Constituted by the Reserve Bank of India in January 2019 and reported on 17 May 2019. The RBI said it would examine the recommendations for inclusion in its Payment Systems Vision 2021.
73 recommendations on digital payments
The committee set a target of tenfold growth in digital payment volumes over three years and recommended cutting card interchange by 15 basis points, removing charges on payments to government, an Acceptance Development Fund for under-served merchants, simpler and cheaper KYC, and an RBI financial inclusion index.
Non-executive chairman from 24 August 2017
Returned after chief executive Vishal Sikka resigned on 18 August 2017 amid a public dispute between the board and the founders over pay and severance. R. Seshasayee stepped down as chairman and Ravi Venkatesan as co-chairman. Institutional investors pressed for Nilekani's return.
Congress candidate, Bangalore South, 2014 general election
Joined the Indian National Congress in March 2014 and lost to the BJP's Ananth Kumar by 228,575 votes. Described as not active in politics since.
Imagining India (2009); Rebooting India (2015, with Viral Shah)
Leading a high-powered task force on examination reforms (2026)
Reported in July 2026, extending a pattern of government mandates on population-scale system design.
Notable Coverage
17 items
Appointed to lead a government task force on examination reforms
Nilekani steps back from the general partner role at Fundamentum as it raises a third fund
Co-chairs India's G20 Task Force on Digital Public Infrastructure
Argues digital public infrastructure is fuelling startups and challenging incumbents
Calls NPCI a crown jewel of India's technology sector
Donates US$38m to IIT Bombay
Parliament restores voluntary Aadhaar eKYC for private firms through the 2019 amendment
Introduces the account aggregator framework publicly
Nilekani committee reports to the RBI with 73 recommendations on digital payments
Aadhaar passes 1.2 billion enrolments, covering more than 99% of Indian adults
Supreme Court upholds the Aadhaar Act but strikes down the provision allowing private companies to compel Aadhaar authentication
Nilekani called the ruling a landmark judgment in Aadhaar's favour and said it validated the programme's founding principles.
Justice Chandrachud dissents, holding the entire Aadhaar programme constitutionally infirm
Nilekani has argued publicly that the surveillance-state fear is over-inflated, on the grounds that Aadhaar collects no transaction data by design and is invoked only intermittently.
Exclusion cases: benefits denied where biometrics could not be captured
Fundamentum raises from Canadian pension fund CDPQ
Tribune reporter buys access to Aadhaar holder data for about US$7
Returns to Infosys as non-executive chairman after the Sikka resignation
Nilekani said he was happy to return to Infosys, now in the role of non-executive chairman.