Dilip Shanghvi

Dilip Shanghvi (born 1 October 1955) is an Indian billionaire businessman. Shanghvi is the founder of Sun Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company.<ref name=BBProfile>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=itn>Template:Cite news</ref> The Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 2016.<ref name="Padma Awards 2016">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> India Today magazine ranked him 8th in India's most powerful people of 2017 list.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> According to Forbes, as of May 2025, Shanghvi is the fifth richest person in India with an estimated net worth of US$28.9 billion.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Early life

Dilip Shanghvi was born in 1955 in a Jain family from Gujarat, India.<ref>Taneja, Dinesh C. (2015). The Life and Times of the Shah of Sun Pharma: Dilip Shanghvi. Rupa Publications. p. 12.</ref><ref>Soma Das, The Reluctant Billionaire How Dilip Shanghvi Became the Richest Self-Made Indian, Penguin, 2017, Template:ISBN</ref> He was raised in Kolkata, where his father ran a small wholesale business trading generic medicines. Shanghvi studied at J. J. Ajmera High School.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and later earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calcutta.<ref name="Forbes tag">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During his early years, he helped his father manage the family’s pharmaceutical trading business, gaining firsthand experience of the industry. This background inspired him to start manufacturing his own medicines rather than just selling other companies’ products.<ref name="dna"/>

Career

After working in his father’s pharmaceutical distribution business in Kolkata, Dilip Shanghvi decided to start manufacturing his own medicines. In 1983, he founded Sun Pharmaceutical Industries with a small loan from his father, focusing initially on psychiatric drugs. The company began with a single manufacturing facility in Vapi, Gujarat.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Sun Pharma steadily expanded its product range and market reach over the next decade. By 1993, profits had grown significantly, allowing Shanghvi to invest in dedicated research and development facilities.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Under his leadership, Sun Pharma became known for its strategy of acquiring other companies to fuel growth. The most notable was the $4 billion acquisition of Ranbaxy Laboratories in 2014, which made Sun Pharma India’s largest pharmaceutical company and among the top global generic drug makers.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}Template:Dead link</ref>

Despite facing regulatory challenges and a drop in profits between 2014 and 2018, Shanghvi steered the company through recovery. By 2023, Sun Pharma reported profits exceeding ₹8,000 crore, with strong growth in its specialty medicines segment.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Shanghvi has also overseen international acquisitions, including US-based Ocular Technologies in 2016 and Concert Pharmaceuticals in 2023, expanding Sun Pharma’s global footprint in specialty drugs.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Community

In January 2018, the Indian government appointed Shanghvi to the Reserve Bank of India's 21-member central board committee.<ref name=zee>Template:Cite news</ref> He is chairman of the board of governors at IIT Bombay.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was made a trustee of the Rhodes scholarship programme at Oxford University in 2017.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Personal life

Dilip Shanghvi was born into a Jain Family from Gujrat and follows the Jain faith, His family later moved to Kolkata.<ref>Taneja, Dinesh C. (2015). The Life and Times of the Shah of Sun Pharma: Dilip Shanghvi. Rupa Publications. p. 12-13.</ref> Due to a misinterpretation he is sometimes described as a Vaishnav because of his visits to the Shrinathji temple but by birth he is Jain and also visits Hindu temples along with The Jain temples.<ref>Taneja, Dinesh C. (2015). The Life and Times of the Shah of Sun Pharma: Dilip Shanghvi. Rupa Publications. p. 13-14.</ref><ref>Piramal, Gita (1996). Business Maharajas. Penguin. p. 327.</ref><ref>Soma Das, The Reluctant Billionaire How Dilip Shanghvi Became the Richest Self-Made Indian Template:ISBN</ref> The surname "Shanghvi" itself is associated with Jainism, and is derived from a term meaning "leader of the Jain community".<ref>Siddhantacharya Phulachandra Shastri, Parvaar Jain Samaj ka Itihas, 1990, Jabalpur</ref> He is married to Vibha Shanghvi, and they have two children, Aalok and Vidhi.<ref name=ft>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Despite his wealth, Shanghvi is known for maintaining a low public profile and avoiding the limelight. He has a son Aalok, and a daughter, Vidhi, both of whom work for Sun Pharmaceuticals.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Shanghvi is a devotee of Shrinathji and makes regular pilgrimage with his family to the deity's abode in the city of Nathdwara in Rajasthan. Photos and idols of the deity adorn Sun Pharma's factory and offices.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Book

In 2019, journalist Soma Das authored The Reluctant Billionaire, the first and only biography of Dilip Shanghvi.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Published by Penguin Random House, the book was nominated for Tata Literature Award<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> in the Best Business Book category in November 2019.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Business standard called the book "an excellent read" and suggested in a review that "Soma Das has been able to capture brilliantly the essence of Dilip Shanghvi"<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

See also

• List of billionaires

External links

• Template:Britannica