When Wealth Meets Purpose: SD Shibulal on Building a Lasting Legacy

I was raised in a middle-class family in Kerala where means were modest, but aspirations were high. Both my wife Kumari and I learned the value of education, discipline and hard work from our parents. Money was not something we discussed in terms of abundance.

Growing up wealth meant security; it meant the ability to pursue an education, support my family and live without constant uncertainty.

When we started Infosys in 1981, wealth was far from our minds. We were a small group of entrepreneurs driven by a vision to build a globally respected technology company from India. Our focus was on creating value, solving problems and proving that an Indian company could compete on the world stage while remaining rooted in strong values.

As the company grew, my responsibilities grew with it. When I took over as head of production in the late 1990s, Infosys had around 4,600 employees. By the time I stepped away from executive responsibilities, that number had grown to 1.85 lakh. Looking back, the transformation seems extraordinary. Living through it, however, it felt gradual. Every day was about building, learning, and overcoming challenges.

The wealth that came with that journey was, in many ways, a by-product. We did not start out with the goal of becoming wealthy. We were committed to building a great institution. Even after Infosys went public in 1993, the significant wealth creation happened much later, particularly during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

As wealth grew, life became more comfortable. We travelled more comfortably, lived in better homes, and enjoyed conveniences that were once beyond our imagination. At this stage wealth became a means of a better quality of life.

Relationship with Wealth

Over time, we began asking different questions, not what wealth could do for us, but what it could enable for others. That question transformed our relationship with wealth. We realised that wealth can be used for something more than improving our lives. At this point, it became not just a privilege but also an opportunity to contribute to a larger purpose.

Entrepreneurship gave me a purpose. Institutions created pathways that allowed me to dream bigger than my circumstances. It therefore became important to ask how we could help create similar opportunities for others. These have shaped much of the work we do today.

With growing wealth came the realisation that this wealth needed to be stewarded well. That led to the creation of our family office, known as Innovations Investment Management (IIM), which builds platforms to manage the family's wealth, investments, business ventures and philanthropic initiatives.

At Shibulal Family Philanthropic Initiatives (SFPI), our focus is on creating long-term impact through education, health care, organic farming, research and innovation.

More importantly, we seek to build institutional capacity rather than simply fund interventions. Interventions can solve immediate problems, but institutional capabilities create enduring change.

Education held a special place in our journey. When we first began thinking seriously about contributing to the social sector around 1998, we reflected deeply on what had enabled our own lives and careers. The answer was clear: education.

Both my wife and I received our education in Kerala, and we often remind ourselves that much of what we have achieved is rooted in the opportunities that education provided. Our parents believed in the transformative power of learning and made sacrifices to ensure that we had access to it. In many ways, we are where we are today because of our parents and the education they gave us.

Vidyadhan began in 1999 with a simple idea, to provide scholarships to two students from the school that I attended in Kerala.

One of those students is still associated with us and has been working with our family office and taking care of our personal finances for the past 27 years.

What began as a small initiative soon gained momentum, growing steadily over the years, enabled by technology and our empowered teams on the ground. As our small initiative transformed from a pilot to a platform, we were able to expand our reach beyond what we could do on our own through other partners, both corporate and individuals who joined us.

Since then, the number of scholarships and beneficiaries has increased year after year. Scholarships are offered to students in the fields of medicine, engineering, pharma, nursing, agriculture and other courses of their choice.

The Vidyadhan Scholarship programme has impacted over 17,000 students across 22 states and Union Territories so far through 65,000 scholarships in over 25 years.

Building Structures

The objective of our philanthropic initiatives is building structures that continue to serve society long after we are gone. It is about creating ecosystems that nurture talent, expand opportunities and empower future generations to solve challenges we cannot yet foresee.

I am particularly encouraged by how younger generations are redefining wealth. For many of them, wealth is no longer measured solely by financial assets. It is increasingly associated with freedom, time, experiences, purpose and impact. This broader perspective reflects an important shift in values.

Financial success remains important, but it is becoming a means rather than an end. The aspiration is not simply to possess more, but to contribute more meaningfully.

My journey from a young boy in Kerala seeking security to an entrepreneur focused on value creation to someone committed to institution-building and social impact has taught me that wealth acquires meaning only when it is connected to purpose. Today, Kumari and I believe the greatest measure of wealth is not what we accumulate for ourselves, but the opportunities we create for others.

If our resources, experiences and institutions can help build a more equitable society, one where everyone has the chance to learn, grow and realise their potential, then that is wealth at its most meaningful.

The writer is co-founder of SFPI and co-founder and former chief executive, Infosys