Learning a thing or two from billionaires and entrepreneurs is the best thing you can do when you want to be one yourself. After all, they have come a long way in order to reach their current level and status.
However, among all the entrepreneurs you can find nowadays, which one should you choose as your inspiration or more like taking as an example of what you want to achieve someday?
Nagavara Ramarao Narayana Murthy, or just N. R. Narayana Murthy, is definitely one of those you should place at the top of your list if you want to find someone successful that not many expected him to be.
If you don’t know about him, there’s something we can say before anything else: Infosys.
Also, don’t worry; we will help you to know more about the billionaire and businessman with the details about his successes, investments, and how he is part of the list of the wealthiest people in the world with more than the previous company mentioned covering his back when it comes to making zeros.
Getting to Know Narayana: Early Years
Compared to entrepreneurs like Larry Ellison, Elon Musk, and Jeff Bezos, it is normal not to know about Narayana for one reason specific: He isn’t that often in the spotlight.
However, this doesn’t mean he isn’t worth your time and reading since, like every successful businessman, you can learn a lot from him and we are sure you will find his life and journey interesting by starting with his early years.
Usually referred to as N. R. Narayana Murthy only, was born on August 20, 1946, to a middle-class Kannadiga Madhwa Brahmin family in Sidlaghatta, Kingdom of Mysore, British India.
Currently, you can find or search for the location as Chikkaballapura district, Karnataka, India.
There isn’t much information about his childhood. Neither of his relationship with his parents was nor the details about what they did to earn money and sustain the family despite some information about his father being a teacher (which isn’t reliable).
This is why, instead, we have a very short introduction to the new entrepreneur as a person who completed his school education and went to graduate from the National Institute of Engineering in 1967 with an Electrical Engineering degree.
Then, in 1969 he got his master’s degree from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur after completing the required time and all the education involved.
Where does this take us when there isn’t much information about his early years? Well, we do have some details about his first years focusing on his career.
Starting with Paris during the 1970s, he worked in helping to design an operating system for handling air cargo at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
However, he ended up returning to India, where he accepted a position with a computer systems company in Pune from where he would decide to start his own company, which he co-founded with fellow computer professionals he got to know during his early years in the field.
The Beginning of Infosys – Business Career
Where can we start with the story of what would become to be one of the biggest multinationals in the world regarding information and technology?
Probably by just continuing where we left it before.
The company Narayana decided to start in 1981 with his six fellow computer professionals would come to be called Infosys.
Infosys is a multinational corporation that provides business consulting, information technology, and outsourcing services with its current headquarters located in Bengaluru, India.
Today, the company has more than 200K employees working for them all around the globe.
The company’s operating margin and return on equity are 33% and 26%, respectively.
They employ people from different cultures and backgrounds to grow their client base through innovation and customer satisfaction.
However, how did the company reach this point? Was it always a boom since it was founded back in 1981? Not quite.
The company wasn’t booming like similar businesses from entrepreneurs we know nowadays.
Instead, it took until the 1990s when the Indian government made a decisive move towards economic liberalization, leading to the rapid growth in India’s high-tech and computer sectors.
As a result and as a way to take advantage of the new situation, Murthy aggressively expanded his company’s services and client base, negotiating deals with many overseas businesses to provide them with consulting, systems integration, software development, and product engineering services.
Thanks to this boost and a great move by Narayana, in 1999, the company had joined NASDAQ and became the first Indian company to be listed on an American stock exchange.
In Asiaweek’s next year’s Power 50, the magazine’s annual list of the top people in the region, they included Murthy in the ranking (as they should).
BusinessWeek also named Murthy one of its “Stars of Asia” for three consecutive years (1998, 1999, and 2000).
By 2004, the company was generating over $1.1 billion in total annual revenues, which involves a great increase in the previous fiscal year they announced.
To this date, Infosys remains one of the top companies due to its growth which was possible for the global downturn in the information technology industry at the time.
Of course, the company faced many challenges, which Murthy was able to handle politically correctly and without any issues in the long run.
However, with his retirement in 2011, the company was supposed to fall behind, which it didn’t even when he left it with 100k employees and $4 billion a year in revenues only, which have only increased over the years.
We can highlight from this that Infosys was founded by Mr. Murthy and has become a leader in innovation, including technical, managerial, leadership, and software technology training, thanks to how well the businessman led it.
It also excelled in customer focus, quality, productivity, and infrastructure.
N. R. Narayana Murthy: How He Earns His Billions
Unlike what you might think, we aren’t dealing with a person with a few million considering the billionaire company he co-founded and led to success before retiring.
Thus, isn’t it only expected for this man to have a net worth that includes three more zeros than others might think? Of course, millions are a lot for us already, but billions… That’s another story.
Focusing on Narayana and his net worth, it is set at $4.4 billion according to Forbes and its real-time net worth tracker, which shows how it has increased over the last few months from $3.5 to what it is today.
All his net worth comes from the success of Infosys and personal business ventures that haven’t been disclosed over the last few years.
What people don’t usually know about Narayana is that he holds a minority stake in the company he helped to fund.
Most people believe he holds the majority of the stakes as the person who contributed the most as chairman and main leader of the company.
However, he doesn’t, but this doesn’t stop him from owning a great deal in terms of money and the total of the company due to the financial distribution and management,
Finally, real estate properties and investments haven’t been reported, but he is known for owning more than one luxurious mansion in India, where he resides with his wife, Sudha Kulkarni.
Impact: How Narayana Helps Society
We know what you are thinking, “Do billionaires truly help others?” After all, there has been a lot of controversy around their donations, charities, and foundations.
We cannot answer for other entrepreneurs right at this moment. Still, when it comes to Narayana and his social impact with foundations and donations, he has been helping underprivileged sections of society since 1996 with the Infosys Foundation.
The non-profit organization is entirely focused on providing support programs for education, rural development, healthcare, arts, culture, and destitute care.
It is focused and dedicated to several states in India, and unlike other foundations and charities, it doesn’t accept external donations regardless of how insistent people can be.
There haven’t been specific reports or declarations as to why, but many believe it is due to what Narayana believes when it comes to helping others with the billions he has earned over the years.
Although it was founded by the businessman directly, the real chairman and head of the foundation is his wife, Sudha Murthy (which we first introduced with her unmarried name).
Infosys Foundation also opened a branch in the USA, which has a different focus compared to the Indian one since it aims to support science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
The idea goes around building community initiatives with children and young people but still giving everyone who needs it an opportunity.
When it comes to other aspects and direct social impact by the magnate, no donations or contributions have been reported over the last 25 years. Still, we don’t doubt his philanthropist’s heart continues to help in many other ways.
Someone to Look Up to?
Going back to our initial mention about role models and following the steps and stories of some entrepreneurs, we are confident you understand that Narayana, in his own way, has a lot to offer for those who are starting.
Although he keeps his life very private, you can have a closer look at his journey with Infosys and come up with many ideas for your own business.
However, we still want you to remember something: You shouldn’t “copy” him but rather find inspiration and new ideas.
We don’t mind people who believe they can improve what they have done (for example), but isn’t it better to focus on something new or that has proven to be quite effective and efficient in this new era?
We know. Coming up with a business idea isn’t that simple, but if Narayana could while working a regular job, why wouldn’t you be able to do the same?
If you want an idea that can take you out of that hole, here goes a top idea we have been relying on for some time: digital real estate.
Before you even ask, no, it isn’t about the real estate, you know.
You don’t buy properties and remodel them, then resell them. Instead, it is a digital-based process that includes other factors and elements.
Digital real estate is the “renting” of websites to small businesses and companies that require leads. This is why it is important to forget about houses or other properties in order to fully understand digital real estate.
To make it simple, this is how it works:
- Pick a niche that must be popular in your area, or you know many companies and businesses focus on it.
- Start to reach out to small businesses and people in need of help in generating leads within the niche you have chosen.
- Once you have a client, you can create a website to drive traffic to that company. This method only allows for organic traffic, as paid ads are not used.
- Ensure that your website is ranked on Google for organic traffic.
- Start generating leads.
- You can earn passive income by being paid for each lead generated on the website you built and ranked.
It’s very simple, but you will still need the knowledge and training necessary to operate this business model.
We highly recommend a training program since it is perfect for both beginners and those with more experience in building websites.
It includes everything you need to know about making money with leads and how you will turn it into your new source of revenue.
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