Shiv Nadar, Azim Premji: 2 IT czars lost $8.8b, among 10 worst hit billionaires in 2025
Shares of HCL Tech and Wipro have fallen 12–13 per cent so far in 2025, which is relatively better than the 14.25 per cent decline in the BSE IT index over the same period.
- Dec 15, 2025,
- Updated Dec 15, 2025 11:27 AM IST
Two Indian IT billionaires Shiv Nadar and Azim Premji find themselves among the 10 biggest wealth losers globally, according to publicly available data from Bloomberg, amid investor caution toward Indian IT services. The two IT technology firms saw their shares falling 12-13 per cent this calendar as the sector re-rating is seen as dependent on a revival in discretionary spending and the emergence of a new AI-led services cycle, making it largely a waiting game until the current AI capex cycle moderates.
Data showed HCL Technologies' Shiv Nadar has been the worst hit Indian billionaire this year, having lost $4.85 billion in notional wealth. He was last valued at $38.2 billion. Wipro's Azim Premji, on the other hand, saw his personal wealth eroding $3.97 billion to $26.9 billion, as per publicly available data from Bloomberg Billionaire index. In total, the two billionaires lost $8.82 billion in 2025.
Shares of HCL Tech and Wipro have fallen 12–13 per cent so far in 2025, which is relatively better than the 14.25 per cent decline in the BSE IT index over the same period. Nadar-led promoters held 60.81 per cent stake in the Noida-based HCL Tech as of September 30. Premji led-promoters, on the other hand, owned 72.65 per cent in the Bengaluru-based Wipro.
Analysts noted that AI spending has so far been focused on infrastructure, mainly data center buildout. The second phase, where enterprises move from experimentation to deployment, begins when the incremental benefit of more hardware begins to flatten. MOFSL in a recent note said the combination of moderating capex growth and diminishing hardware productivity gains indicates that the inflection point is near.
"Historically, this is the point at which Indian IT’s revenue cycles bottom and begin to recover," it said citing cloud build-out phase from 2016 to 2018.
Nomura India said the biggest concern in the minds of investors has been whether the sluggish revenue growth positions the IT services sector as a net loser in the AI world? But the foreign brokerage said this is not the case.
"We think the addressable market for IT services companies increases over time in each tech cycle," it said in a recent note.
Antique Stock Broking a recent note said Hyperscalers are entering multi-year, capital-intensive infrastructure build-outs, prompting enterprises to reallocate budgets toward core AI and cloud platforms. This shift is creating near-term pressure on discretionary IT spending, particularly for Indian IT services firms that rely on traditional development, maintenance, and transformation deals, the brokerage said.
"However, providers that can rapidly scale AI capabilities, embed themselves deeply within hyperscaler partner ecosystems, and deliver cost-efficiency programs combined with AI-led modernization are best positioned to capture emerging demand," it said. This brokerage has 'Buy on HCL Tech with a target of Rs 1,775 and a 'Hold' rating on Wipro with a target of Rs 280.
Meanwhile, the worst hit billionaire this year is Microsoft's Bill Gates, whose fortunes dropped $41.30 billion to $117 billion. Dustin Moskovitz (co-founder Facebook), Changpeng Zhao (co-founder Binance) and Manuel Villar (founder Golden MV Holdings) saw $12-16 billion drop in personal wealth this year.
Two Indian IT billionaires Shiv Nadar and Azim Premji find themselves among the 10 biggest wealth losers globally, according to publicly available data from Bloomberg, amid investor caution toward Indian IT services. The two IT technology firms saw their shares falling 12-13 per cent this calendar as the sector re-rating is seen as dependent on a revival in discretionary spending and the emergence of a new AI-led services cycle, making it largely a waiting game until the current AI capex cycle moderates.
Data showed HCL Technologies' Shiv Nadar has been the worst hit Indian billionaire this year, having lost $4.85 billion in notional wealth. He was last valued at $38.2 billion. Wipro's Azim Premji, on the other hand, saw his personal wealth eroding $3.97 billion to $26.9 billion, as per publicly available data from Bloomberg Billionaire index. In total, the two billionaires lost $8.82 billion in 2025.
Shares of HCL Tech and Wipro have fallen 12–13 per cent so far in 2025, which is relatively better than the 14.25 per cent decline in the BSE IT index over the same period. Nadar-led promoters held 60.81 per cent stake in the Noida-based HCL Tech as of September 30. Premji led-promoters, on the other hand, owned 72.65 per cent in the Bengaluru-based Wipro.
Analysts noted that AI spending has so far been focused on infrastructure, mainly data center buildout. The second phase, where enterprises move from experimentation to deployment, begins when the incremental benefit of more hardware begins to flatten. MOFSL in a recent note said the combination of moderating capex growth and diminishing hardware productivity gains indicates that the inflection point is near.
"Historically, this is the point at which Indian IT’s revenue cycles bottom and begin to recover," it said citing cloud build-out phase from 2016 to 2018.
Nomura India said the biggest concern in the minds of investors has been whether the sluggish revenue growth positions the IT services sector as a net loser in the AI world? But the foreign brokerage said this is not the case.
"We think the addressable market for IT services companies increases over time in each tech cycle," it said in a recent note.
Antique Stock Broking a recent note said Hyperscalers are entering multi-year, capital-intensive infrastructure build-outs, prompting enterprises to reallocate budgets toward core AI and cloud platforms. This shift is creating near-term pressure on discretionary IT spending, particularly for Indian IT services firms that rely on traditional development, maintenance, and transformation deals, the brokerage said.
"However, providers that can rapidly scale AI capabilities, embed themselves deeply within hyperscaler partner ecosystems, and deliver cost-efficiency programs combined with AI-led modernization are best positioned to capture emerging demand," it said. This brokerage has 'Buy on HCL Tech with a target of Rs 1,775 and a 'Hold' rating on Wipro with a target of Rs 280.
Meanwhile, the worst hit billionaire this year is Microsoft's Bill Gates, whose fortunes dropped $41.30 billion to $117 billion. Dustin Moskovitz (co-founder Facebook), Changpeng Zhao (co-founder Binance) and Manuel Villar (founder Golden MV Holdings) saw $12-16 billion drop in personal wealth this year.