In an unusual act of philanthropy in India, the chief executive officer of IDFC First Bank Ltd. gave 530,000 worth of his shares to his driver, trainer, and office helpers. V. Vaidyanathan donated 900,000 shares in the private sector lender, or 3.7 percent of his holdings. According to an exchange filing, the funds will be used to buy homes. The holding’s worth is determined by Monday’s closing price.
Mr Vaidyanathan, 54, has given away nearly 38% of his stake since January 2018, when he was the CEO of shadow lender Capital First, which was eventually combined with public IDFC Bank to form IDFC First Bank, according to filings. This includes a present in 2020 to his former mathematics teacher, who lent Mr Vaidyanathan 500 rupees when the the now CEO was penniless who had received admission to a premier school but lacked the funds to travel there.
According to Monday’s filing, a welfare trust sold another 200,000 shares to fund its social activities. Since the bank’s inception on Dec. 18, 2018, shares of IDFC First Bank have increased by around 5%. It has also recovered from a 2020 slump brought on by the pandemic, and Mr Vaidyanathan has been re-appointed for a second term ending in 2024.
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