| Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Quick Info | |
|---|---|
| Height | 5 ft 4 in |
| Weight | 70 kg |
| Date of Birth | March 23, 1953 |
| Zodiac Sign | Aries |
| Eye Color | Dark Brown |
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is an Indian entrepreneur who has served as the executive chairperson and founder of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited, a biotechnology company based in Bangalore, India. She is also the former chairperson of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore. In 2011, she was included in the Financial Times‘ list of the top 50 women in business and was listed as the 68th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in 2019. For her contributions to the biotechnology sector, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was honored with the Padma Shri (the 4th-highest civilian award of the Republic of India) in 1989 and the Padma Bhushan (the 3rd-highest civilian award in the Republic of India) in 2005 by the government of India.
Born Name
Kiran Mazumdar
Other Name
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Sun Sign
Aries
Born Place
Bangalore, Mysore State, India
Residence
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
Nationality
Education
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw studied at Bishop Cotton Girls’ School (BCGS), a private all-girls school for boarders and day scholars in Bangalore, Karnataka. After graduating in 1968, she enrolled at Mount Carmel College (MCC) (an autonomous college affiliated with Bengaluru City University). She studied Biology and Zoology and graduated from Bangalore University with a bachelor’s degree in Zoology in 1973.
Later on, she attended Ballarat College (an affiliated college of the University of Melbourne) in Australia and studied malting and brewing. The only woman enrolled in the brewing course, she topped her class in 1974 and subsequently obtained the degree as a master brewer in 1975.
Occupation
Entrepreneur
Family
- Father – Rasendra Mazumdar (Served as the head brewmaster at United Breweries)
- Mother – Yamini Mazumdar (Entrepreneur)
- Siblings – Ravi Mazumdar (Brother) (Professor), Dev Mazumdar (Brother) (Software Engineer)
Net Worth
According to Forbes, her net worth was $2.3B as of June 20, 2023.
Build
Average
Height
5 ft 4 in or 162.5 cm
Weight
70 kg or 154.5 lbs
Boyfriend / Spouse
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has dated –
- John Shaw – She was married to John Shaw and they remained together until his death on October 24, 2022.
Race / Ethnicity
Asian (Indian)
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is of Gujarati descent.
Hair Color
Black
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Sexual Orientation
Straight
Distinctive Features
Pierced ears
Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw Facts
- Originally, she had planned to study at a medical school but was unable to obtain a scholarship.
- She has worked as a trainee brewer in Carlton and United Breweries, Melbourne and as a trainee maltster at Barrett Brothers and Burston, Australia.
- For some time, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was employed as a technical consultant at Jupiter Breweries Limited, Calcutta and worked as a technical manager at Standard Maltings Corporation, Baroda between 1975 and 1977.
- When she tried to search for opportunities that would help her advance her career in Bangalore or Delhi, she was told that she could not be hired as a master brewer in India as “It’s a man’s work.” She then started to look for opportunities abroad and was offered a job in Scotland.
- In 1978, she started Biocon India in the garage of her rented house in Bengaluru with a seed capital of Rs. 10,000.
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw founded the Biocon Foundation in 2004 and it has focused on various health and education outreach programs to benefit the economically weaker sections of Indian society.
- For outstanding contributions to the progress of science and chemistry, she received the Othmer Gold Medal in 2014 and was named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020.
- Instead of the term “philanthropy”, she prefers the term “compassionate capitalist”. She once said, “Innovation and commerce are as powerful tools for creating social progress as they are for driving technological advancement. When they are put to use for social progress, the implementation is a lot cheaper, a lot more people benefit, and the effect is more lasting.”
- Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw became the first woman to head the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) in 2014.
- She joined The Giving Pledge in 2015.
- In August 2023, she revealed on Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath’s podcast that she started the biotech company Biocon at the age of 25 when she had no experience of doing business and had only INR 10,000 in her bank account.
Featured Image by Sofia Negron / Science History Institute / CC BY-SA 3.0
