Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Ltd
Dr. Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw (b. 23 March 1953 in Bangalore) is an Indian entrepreneur. She is the Chairman & Managing Director of Biocon Ltd. In 2004, she became India’s richest woman.
She was educated at the Bishop Cotton Girls School and Mount Carmel College at Bangalore. After completing her Bachelor of Science degree in Zoology from Bangalore University in 1973, she went to Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education (now University of Ballarat), Australia to study brewing and qualified as a master brewer in 1974. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw started her professional career as trainee brewer in Carlton & United Beverages in 1974. In 1978, she joined as a Trainee Manager with Biocon Biochemicals Limited in Ireland.
Collaborating with the same Irish firm, she founded Biocon India with a capital of Rs. 10,000/- in 1978. The initial operation was to extract an enzyme from papaya. Her application for loans was turned down by banks on two counts – biotechnology was then a new word and the company lacked assets. Over the years, the company grew under her stewardship and is today the biggest biopharmaceutical firm in India. In 2004, Biocon went for an IPO and the issue was over-subscribed by over 30 times. Post-IPO, Shaw held close to 40% of the stock of the company and was regarded as India’s richest woman with an estimated worth of Rs. 2,100 crore (~U.S. $ 480 million).
She was termed India’s Biotech Queen by The Economist and Fortune, and India’s mother of invention by New York Times. Some of the major awards won by her are:
Kiran Mazumdar Shaw is the recipient of several prestigious awards. These include ET Businesswoman of the Year, Best Woman Entrepreneur, Model Employer, Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Life Sciences & Healthcare, Leading Exporter, Outstanding Citizen, Technology Pioneer, etc. Government of India also felicitated her with Padmashri (1989) and Padma Bhushan (2005).