logo
episode-header-image
Jan 2024
53m 3s

NR Narayana Murthy: India's IT innovator

Bbc World Service
About this episode

How NR Narayana Murthy, now known as the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, first became known as the father of India's IT boom.

Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack explain how Murthy made Infosys, the technology company he founded with six friends and some cash borrowed from his wife, a world leader in outsourcing.

Simon and Zing reveal how 20th Century Indian politics, an early passion for computers, and a shocking experience behind the Iron Curtain all played a role in making Murthy spectacularly rich. Then they decide if he's good, bad, or just another billionaire.

We’d love to hear your feedback. Email goodbadbillionaire@bbc.com or drop us a text or WhatsApp to +1 (917) 686-1176.

To find out more about the show and read our privacy notice, visit www.bbcworldservice.com/goodbadbillionaire

Up next
Nov 2
Sir Mo Ibrahim: The mobile phone mogul
Sir Mo Ibrahim quit his job in telecoms and built a global consultancy from the dining room of his home in London. His next move was to help connect a continent.Journalist Zing Tsjeng and BBC business editor Simon Jack follow Mo’s journey, from a young engineer fascinated by a ta ... Show More
37m 47s
Oct 26
Jack Dorsey: Twitter squared
Jack Dorsey founded a social media behemoth, but made more cash from card payments. He built Twitter, but was removed as CEO, before going on to found fintech firm Square.BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng uncover Dorsey’s unusual billionaire biography. He ... Show More
41m 36s
Oct 19
Khaby Lame: The King of TikTok
The pandemic hit and Khaby Lame lost his factory job. Less than three years later, he was the world’s most-followed person on TikTok.Khaby Lame has turned his silent online persona and trademark shrug into a global comedy empire. In early 2026, a deal for his company valued his f ... Show More
40m 33s
Recommended Episodes
Feb 2023
Nandan Nilekani Co-founder and Chairman of Infosys
<p>In this episode, Nicolai Tangen talks to Nandan Nilekani Co-founder and Chairman of Infosys, one of the world’s largest IT companies with more than 300 000 employees. Nandan has had an amazing career both at Infosys and for the Indian government where he led the biggest social ... Show More
31m 26s
Nov 2024
226. Helping India’s e-commerce leapfrog into the future
<p><a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/innovation-and-growth">McKinsey innovation</a> leader <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/our-people/erik-roth">Erik Roth</a> speaks with Shiprocket cofounder and CEO <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/saahilgoel?originalSubd ... Show More
39m 27s
Mar 2023
Hot takes and techno-optimism from tech’s top power couple | Sriram and Aarthi
tail spinning
1h 22m
Sep 2023
Business Daily meets: Mohit Lad
From losing his job in the 2008 financial crash, to a billion dollar idea.We speak to Mohit Lad, who teamed up with his old college friend Ricardo to trawl through the trash cans of shuttered businesses in Silicon Valley to get the first server for their tech start-up, ThousandEy ... Show More
18m 19s
Dec 2023
Work hard, play hard
Indian software billionaire Narayana Murthy (the father-in-law of UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak!) - says that young people in his country should be happy to work 70 hours a week to help India’s development.Indians already work long hours but how does it compare to other countries ... Show More
14m 22s
Jun 2019
How Arijit Mukherji Rose To The Role of CTO
<p>Throughout his career, Arijit Mukherji (<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/arijit-mukherji-3283aa/">LinkedIn</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/arijit_mukherji">Twitter</a>) has been able to learn, innovate and lead. As the CTO of SignalFx, he gets to do all those things at o ... Show More
50m 13s
Jun 2025
Dinakar Singh - A Father’s Call To Action - [Invest Like the Best, EP.428]
My guest today is Dinakar Singh. Dinakar is the founder and CEO of Axon, the family office successor to TPG-Axon, which was a successful global long-short hedge fund. We wanted to share his story on Father’s Day to honor the person and the dad that Dinakar is. He shares one of th ... Show More
47m 49s
Oct 2021
203. Shirish Nadkarni On Microsoft, Hotmail, MSN and Blackberry Internet Email
Serial entrepreneur Shirish Nadkarni came to the U.S. as a teenager with $25 in his pocket. After graduating from Harvard Business School, he worked at Microsoft where he engineered the $400 million acquisition of Hotmail and launched MSN.com, the world’s leading web portal.Strik ... Show More
34m 18s