R. Thyagarajan, founder of the Shriram Group, is one of India’s most unusual billionaires. Despite building a financial services empire valued at around ₹1.5 lakh crore, he lives an extremely simple life without a smartphone and drives a modest car worth about ₹6 lakh.
Thyagarajan started his career in the insurance and finance sector before identifying a major gap in India’s lending system—many small entrepreneurs, truck drivers, and shop owners were unable to access loans from traditional banks. To address this, he co-founded Shriram Chits, which later grew into the massive Shriram Group.
Today the group serves around 11 million customers through thousands of branches and employs more than 70,000 people.
In 2006, Thyagarajan made a remarkable decision: he transferred his entire shareholding in the Shriram companies to a trust for employees. The stake was worth around $750 million (about ₹6,000 crore) at the time, effectively handing ownership of the company to the people who helped build it.
His philosophy has always been that business should serve society and reward the people who contribute to its growth, making his story one of the most inspiring examples of leadership and generosity in Indian business.
