Indian American journalist and author Anand Giridharadas, Indian entrepreneur couple Mukesh and Nita Ambani, tech magnate Azim Premji and Nikhil Kamath are featured in inaugural TIME100 Philanthropy list recognizing “singular figures who are shaping the future of giving.”
The issue features a worldwide cover highlighting former professional footballer, entrepreneur, and philanthropist David Beckham.
Named among innovators, Giridharadas is recognized for his influential critique of elite philanthropy and his continued advocacy for systemic reform in how societies approach generosity and wealth redistribution.
READ: 3 Indian American technology executives win 2025 ChicagoCIO ORBIE awards (May 19, 2025)
“Challenging billionaire philanthropy,” Giridharadas changed the national conversation about big-donor philanthropy in 2018 with his best-selling book Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World.
In it, he argued that elites use philanthropy to justify their unjustifiable wealth, casting themselves as part of the solution to the world’s problems even as their actions reinforce the status quo, Time noted.
Seven years later, Giridharadas says he has been proved right. “I want to thank the billionaire class for making a case for what I was trying to argue much better than I ever could,” he says. “Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, et cetera, have staged a play in public for why this level of wealth is dangerous.”
The better alternative to billionaire philanthropy, Giridharadas says, is a democratic system where the ultrarich pay their appropriate share of taxes, and governments decide based on a popular mandate where to spend that money.
As pessimistic as Giridharadas might sound, he’s actually optimistic about the future, seeing a shift in attitudes among younger people, according to Time. “Gen Z, they get it,” he says. “I feel like they’re the first generation of Americans in my lifetime to not be brainwashed by the story of the billionaire hero.”
Billionaire philanthropists Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani have been recognized for “empowering millions.” Their charitable initiatives are as varied and wide-ranging as the business empire that earned them an estimated $110 billion fortune, notes Time.
Mukesh, the chairman and managing director of the far-reaching Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries, and Nita, the founder and chair of the Reliance Foundation, have funded initiatives affecting millions of Indians that have provided funding for scholarships; helped women strengthen their career skills; assisted rural communities with sustainable agriculture initiatives; supported water conservation projects; paid for the construction of hospitals; aided people with vision problems; and improved infrastructure for schools.
All told, the couple gifted about $48 million in 2024, placing them among the country’s biggest donors.
Indian tech magnate Azim Premji has been recognized for “Improving education in India.” Over five decades, Premji transformed his parents’ small vegetable oil business into a global leader in IT. Today, he is better known as one of India’s most generous philanthropists, directing his wealth to systematically improving India’s public education system.
The first Indian to sign the Giving Pledge, in 2013, Premji has endowed the foundation he launched nearly 25 years ago with over $29 billion in shares from his company, Wipro.
In addition to disbursing traditional grants—$109 million went to 940 organizations focused on education, health, and other areas in 2023-2024—the foundation works directly with teachers and rural child care workers via 59 field offices and 263 teacher learning centers throughout India, on educational programs that have so far helped over 8 million children. The foundation also plays an advocacy role on education policy, helping to shape national curriculum.
READ: Narasimha Reddy named Regents Professor at Texas A&M University (December 9, 2024)
Nikhil Kamath is recognized for a “Giving Pledge” for young Indians. In 2023, at age 36, Kamath became the youngest Indian to sign the Giving Pledge. By then he had already donated millions to environmental and educational projects—and started his own offshoot initiative, the Young India Philanthropic Pledge (YIPP), which asks Indians under age 45 with fortunes over $100 million to commit to giving away at least 25% of their wealth.
It’s a remarkable development for a high school dropout who started working for a Bangalore call center as a teenager, and using his free time to trade stocks, noted Time. In 2010, Kamath and his older brother Nithin founded Zerodha, now one of India’s most successful discount brokerages, and within 13 years both had become billionaires.
Nikhil and Nithin together have committed more than $100 million to their Rainmatter Foundation, which focuses on solutions to climate change. Meanwhile, YIPP has raised $8 million to fund projects such as upgrading 300 schools with better computers, career counseling, and other services.