Indian Tycoon Gave Away $750 Million. He Doesn’t Even Own A Mobile Phone

He built a fortune lending to low-income borrowers shunned by banks. He paid staff below-market wages and thought they still earned too much. He gave away almost all his wealth to a handful of employees, content with his small house and a $5,000 car.

R Thyagarajan is arguably one of the world’s most idiosyncratic financiers – in no small part because his multibillion-dollar business, the Shriram Group, has thrived in an industry that tripped up countless others around the globe.

A pioneer in extending credit to India’s poor for trucks, tractors and other vehicles, Thyagarajan built Shriram into a conglomerate that employs 108,000 people in everything from insurance to stockbroking. Shares of the group’s flagship firm hit a record in July after jumping more than 35% this year, four times more than India’s benchmark stock index.

Now 86, and settled into an advisory role, Thyagarajan said in a rare interview with Bloomberg News that he entered the industry to prove lending to people without credit histories or regular incomes isn’t as risky as it’s perceived. He insists there’s nothing unusual about his approach to business – or his decision to give away a stake in Shriram now valued at more than $750 million.