 "Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw")
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, founder-head of biopharma major Biocon, has become the second Indian to join Giving Pledge, the billionaire philanthropic group started by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett in 2010.
Shaw, 63, joins Wipro chairman Azim Premji as the only resident Indians to have taken the informal pledge, to divert at least half their wealth towards philanthropic efforts.
Shaw was among 17 individuals and families that took the pledge in the past one year, joining a group of 154 signatories from 16 countries. She had committed to being a part of the pledge in December last year.
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“My philanthropic efforts are largely directed towards making a difference to global health care, especially in the developing world. I am particularly concerned about the unbearable financial burden that debilitating diseases like cancer impose on patients in poor countries,” Shaw said. Her statement was released by Giving Pledge.
Among the other signatories of the year were P N C Menon, chairman and founder of the Sobha Group, and his wife, Shobha Menon, who are of Indian origin. So were Salesforce founder Marc Benioff and Joe Gebbia, co-founder of Airbnb.
Shaw, among Time magazine’s list of '100 most influential people in the world', has been active in Indian philanthropic circles, especially when in using her wealth to fund research to treat cancer. The Mazumdar-Shaw Cancer Center in this city has 1,400 beds and provides affordable cancer care.
“This new group joining the Giving Pledge is incredibly thoughtful about their desire to give back and help solve the world’s toughest challenges through philanthropy,” said Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “Some have been giving for decades and others are just starting out after building successful businesses, but they all see the value of giving in a bold and effective way."
