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Dilip Shanghvi

Dilip Shanghvi
Born (1955-10-01) 1 October 1955 (age 69)
Amreli, Gujarat, India[1]
Alma materUniversity of Calcutta
Occupation(s)Founder and MD of Sun Pharmaceuticals
SpouseVibha Shanghvi
Children2

Dilip Shanghvi (born 1 October 1955) is an Indian billionaire businessman. Shanghvi is the founder of Sun Pharmaceuticals, a pharmaceutical company.[2][3] The Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 2016.[4] India Today magazine ranked him 8th in India's most powerful people of 2017 list.[5] 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.[6]

Early life

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Dilip Shanghvi was born in 1955 in a Kapol Vaishnav Hindu family from Gujarat, India[7]. He was raised in Kolkata, where his father ran a small wholesale business trading generic medicines. Shanghvi studied at J. J. Ajmera High School. [8] and later earned a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Calcutta. [9] 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. [10]

Career

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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.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15]

Community

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In January 2018, the Indian government appointed Shanghvi to the Reserve Bank of India's 21-member central board committee.[16] He is chairman of the board of governors at IIT Bombay.[17] He was made a trustee of the Rhodes scholarship programme at Oxford University in 2017.[18]

Personal life

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Dilip Shanghvi was born into a Kapol Vaishnav Hindu family and follows the Vaishnav faith [19]. He is married to Vibha Shanghvi, and they have two children, Aalok and Vidhi. [20][21] 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.[22]

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.[23][24]

Book

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In 2019, journalist Soma Das authored The Reluctant Billionaire, the first and only biography of Dilip Shanghvi.[25] Published by Penguin Random House, the book was nominated for Tata Literature Award[26] in the Best Business Book category in November 2019.[27]

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"[28]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "From a drug distributor to global pharma tycoon". DNA India. 8 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  2. ^ "Bloomberg Billionaires: today's ranking of the world's richest people: Dilip Shanghvi". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 October 2014.
  3. ^ "Top 10 Gujarati billionaires". India TV News. 1 August 2015.
  4. ^ "Padma Awards 2016". Press Information Bureau, Government of India. 2016. Archived from the original on 1 April 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  5. ^ "50 power people". India Today. 14 April 2017. Archived from the original on 17 April 2017. Retrieved 21 April 2017.
  6. ^ "Dilip Shanghvi". Forbes. Retrieved 4 May 2025.
  7. ^ Soma Das, The Reluctant Billionaire How Dilip Shanghvi Became the Richest Self-Made Indian, Penguin, 2017, ISBN: 9780670088577
  8. ^ "The Rise of a Common Man: Dilip Shanghavi - KnowStartup". KnowStartup. 4 August 2015. Archived from the original on 19 April 2018. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Forbes – Dilip Shanghvi". Forbes. Archived from the original on 31 August 2014. Retrieved 31 August 2014.
  10. ^ "From a drug distributor to global pharma tycoon". DNA India. 8 April 2014. Archived from the original on 30 December 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2015.
  11. ^ "Meet Mumbai's second richest man with Rs 1,49,000 crore net worth who started business with Rs 10000". DNA India.
  12. ^ "Sun Pharma to acquire Caraco's remaining stake". Business Standard India. 23 February 2011. Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 15 September 2021.
  13. ^ https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/dilip-shanghvi/articleshow/47731239.cms. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ "Dilip Shanghvi resigns as MD of SPARC". Economic Times. 26 May 2021. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  15. ^ https://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/sun-pharma-s-dilip-shanghvi-from-a-medicines-trader-to-pharma-billionaire-121111800139_1.html. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Govt appoints Dilip Shanghvi, PK Monhanty at RBI's central board". Zee Business. 25 January 2018. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 30 April 2018.
  17. ^ "HRD ministry finalises Sun Pharma head as IIT-Bombay chairman". Hindustan Times. 19 March 2016. Archived from the original on 18 September 2018. Retrieved 18 September 2018.
  18. ^ "Rhodes House - Home of The Rhodes Scholarships". Rhodes House - Home of The Rhodes Scholarships. Archived from the original on 26 June 2017. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
  19. ^ Soma Das, The Reluctant Billionaire How Dilip Shanghvi Became the Richest Self-Made Indian ISBN:9780670088577
  20. ^ "Dilip Shanghvi's mother gifts Sun Pharma shares to his wife". Financial Express. 4 February 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  21. ^ "Dilip Shanghvi". Forbes.
  22. ^ "Sun rises on Ranbaxy". India Today. 18 April 2014. Archived from the original on 25 May 2016. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
  23. ^ "Dilip Shanghvi, Did You know". Forbes. Retrieved 16 October 2023.
  24. ^ Das, Soma (7 June 2019). The Reluctant Billionaire: How Dilip Shanghvi Became the Richest Self-made Indian. Penguin Random House India Private Limited. p. 581. ISBN 978-93-5305-541-7.
  25. ^ "PENGUIN TO PUBLISH THE FIRST EVER BIOGRAPHY OF SUN PHARMA FOUNDER DILIP SHANGHVI". Penguin India.
  26. ^ "Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest announces longlists for five literary awards". 2 November 2019.
  27. ^ "Biography of 'Medicine Mogul' Dilip Shanghvi, the founder of Sun Pharma, to hit stores soon". cnbctv18.com. 15 May 2019.
  28. ^ Majumdar, Shymal. "Symptoms of success". Business Standard. Retrieved 5 May 2025.
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