Gururaj Deshpande
| Gururaj Deshpande ಗುರುರಾಜ್ ದೇಶಪಾಂಡೆ |
|
|---|---|
| Born | Hubli, Karnataka, India |
| Residence | Chelmsford, Massachusetts |
| Alma mater | Harvard University Queen's University University of New Brunswick IIT Madras |
| Occupation | Chairman of Sycamore Networks, Sandstone Capital, A123 Systems, HiveFire, Tejas Networks |
| Net worth |  US$7.6 billion (2010)[1] |
| Religion | Hindu |
| Spouse | Jayshree Deshpande |
| Website | |
| sycamorenet.com Deshpande foundation.org |
|
Gururaj Deshpande (Kannada: ಗುರುರಾಜ್ ದೇಶಪಾಂಡೆ) (Desh Deshpande) is an Indian American businessman and social entrepreneur, who is best known for co-founding the Chelmsford, MA based internet company Sycamore Networks in 1998[2] and the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT and he is also founder of the Deshpande Foundation[3] Presently he is the chairman of the A123Systems, Sycamore Networks, Tejas Networks, and Sparta Group.,[4] and on the board of directors of Airvana, Inc.[2][5] He is also a Life Member of the MIT Corporation, the board of trustees at the MIT.[6]
In July 2010, he was appointed as the Co-Chairman of 'National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship', a group set up to support US President's innovation strategy.[4][7]
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[edit] Early life and education
Born in Hubli, Karnataka, Deshpande was born in a Deshastha Brahmin family. His father was a labor commissioner with the government.[8]
He graduated with a Bachelor's Technology in electrical engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras. He completed his Ph.D. from Faculty of Engineering & Applied Science at Queen's University, Ontario.
[edit] Career
He started his career working at Codex Corporation, a Motorola subsidiary in Ontario, Canada which manufacturers modems, before moving to the U.S. in 1984. Later he co-founded Coral Networks, a router developer, in 1987, he sold the company, two years later for $15 million.[1]
In 1990, Deshpande co-founded Cascade Communications, whose products were very important in the early internet, initially serving as its president and later Executive Vice President, he hired Dan Smith as CEO. He sold Cascade to Ascend Communications for $3.7 billion in 1997.[5] Subsequently, with help of MIT researchers, he launched Sycamore Networks in 1998. Sycamore Networks went public in October 1999, and soon raised a market cap of $18 billion, and his 21% shareholding, briefly made him, one of the richest Indians in the world, and in 2000, he featured on the Forbes 400 listing of Richest Americans.[1]
In 2000, he founded Networking and Telecom equipment products company, Tejas Networks, along with US-based ASG-Omni in Bangalore.[9]
He is also Chairman of the board at A123Systems,[10] which manufacturers high-power lithium-ion batteries, which went on NASDAQ in October 2009, and raised $438 million and trading at a 50% premium on the day of listing.[5]
[edit] Philanthropy
He along with his wife Jayashree donated $20 million, which started the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation (DCTI) at MIT in 2002, situated in New England.[11]
[edit] Personal life
He is married to Jayashree Despande née Kulkarni, who is the sister of Sudha Murthy, wife of Infosys founder, Narayan Murthy, and Caltech astrophysicist Shrinivas Kulkarni. She is the co-founder of the Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation at MIT. The couple have two children and live in Chelmsford, Massachusetts[1][5]
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d "Deshpande, Gururaj, E. on Forbes 400". Forbes. 2000. http://www.forbes.com/finance/lists/54/2000/LIR.jhtml?passListId=54&passYear=2000&passListType=Person&datatype=Person&uniqueId=MK25.
- ^ a b Board of Directors Sycamore Networks website.
- ^ MIT. "Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation". http://web.mit.edu/deshpandecenter/about.html.
- ^ a b "Locke Announces National Advisory Council on Innovation and Entrepreneurship Members". United States Department of Commerce. July 13, 2010. http://www.commerce.gov/news/press-releases/2010/07/13/locke-announces-national-advisory-council-innovation-and-entrepreneur.
- ^ a b c d Mint (newspaper), The Wall Street Journal (December 18, 2009). "Gururaj Deshpande :The serial entrepreneur". http://www.livemint.com/2009/12/18203315/Gururaj-Deshpande--The-serial.html.
- ^ "Corporation Membership: Desh Deshpande HM". MIT Corporation website. http://web.mit.edu/corporation/members/Deshpande-G.html.
- ^ "Deshpande on Obama panel to support innovation strategy". siliconindia news. 20 July 2010,. http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Deshpande_on_Obama_panel_to_support_innovation_strategy-nid-69865-cid-1.html. Retrieved 20 July 2010.
- ^ Gururaj Deshpande - The billionaire next door
- ^ "Tejas Networks set to go on stream". Indian Express. July 26, 2000. http://www.expressindia.com/news/fe/daily/20000726/fco26015.html.
- ^ "Board of Directors". A123Systems website. http://ir.a123systems.com/directors.cfm.
- ^ "MIT unveils new center supporting technological innovation in New England". Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation website. January 3, 2002. http://web.mit.edu/deshpandecenter/release_010202.html.
[edit] External links
- Board members at Sycamore Networks
- Gururaj "Desh" Deshpande on Deshpande Foundation Website [1]
