Nadar vs Potanin

HCLTech and Nornickel.

The differences

Forbes puts Shiv Nadar about $0.8B ahead of Vladimir Potanin.Forbes figures from 16 Oct 2026 and 17 Oct 2026.
Shiv Nadar: co-founded it. Vladimir Potanin: built it up.
Shiv Nadar is about 16 years older than Vladimir Potanin.
Vladimir Potanin has signed the Giving Pledge; Shiv Nadar has not.
Shiv Nadar is from India; Vladimir Potanin is from Russia.

Put someone else on either side

Nadar

Potanin

Net worth, Forbes: $30.5BForbes, 16 Oct 2026; $29.7BForbes, 17 Oct 2026
Net worth, Bloomberg: $32.8BBloomberg, 12 Oct 2026; $21.8BBloomberg, 17 Oct 2026
Forbes rank: No. 73Real-Time list, 16 Oct 2026; No. 76Real-Time list, 17 Oct 2026
Billionaire since: 2006Earliest Forbes list in the cited sources: No. 168 on the 2006 World's Richest People with $4.0 billion; an earlier listing isn't ruled out; Not stated

How it started: Co-founded itCo-founded HCL in a garage in 1976 with five friends to make calculators and microprocessors; Built it upFounded Interros in 1990; acquired a stake in Norilsk Nickel during Russia's privatization in the 1990s and has run it since 2012
Main source: HCLTech stock held through family promoter companiesBloomberg: the majority of his fortune is held in HCL Technologies; the family also has a majority of HCL Infosystems; Norilsk Nickel stockBloomberg: most of his wealth is his Norilsk Nickel stake; he also has stakes in T-Technologies and Yandex
Companies: HCLTechHCLTech: Founder; chairman emeritus and strategic advisor to the board; Nornickel, InterrosNornickel: President and chairman of the management board; Interros: Founder and president
Biggest stake: HCLTech0.00003% owned; Interros100% owned

Born: 14 Jul 1945Moolaipozhi, Tamil Nadu, India; 3 Jan 1961Moscow, Russia
Country: IndiaLives in Delhi, India; Russia
Education: Bachelor's degreeElectrical engineering degree, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore; Not statedFaculty of Economics, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), 1983
Parents: Born in Moolaipozhi village, Tamil Nadu; lost his father early; Father was a trade diplomat and mother a doctor

Giving Pledge: Not a signer; Signed in 2013
Foundation: Shiv Nadar FoundationEstablished in 1994; Vladimir Potanin FoundationGrant-making foundation created in 1999
Lifetime giving: $1.1BForbes, 30 Sep 2026. Forbes: donated to the Shiv Nadar Foundation; Bloomberg says the foundation has spent about $1.75 billion since 1994; Not stated

Role now: Founder, no executive roleChairman emeritus and strategic advisor to the board of HCLTech; Runs the companyPresident and chairman of the management board of Nornickel; president of Interros
Successor: His daughter Roshni Nadar Malhotra chairs HCLTech and the HCL Group (since July 2020); C Vijayakumar is CEO and managing director; son-in-law Shikhar Malhotra is a director of HCL Corporation and vice chairman and CEO of HCL Healthcare; Not stated
Public office: None found; First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia1996-1997
Legal record: None found; 2022: UK governmentDesignated under UK sanctions with a full asset freeze (UK Sanctions List reference RUS1466).