How Dr Naresh Trehan became India's newest billionaire

Dr Naresh Trehan, a world-renowned cardio surgeon, is India’s newest billionaire. But who is Trehan? And how did the chairman and managing director of the Medanta chain of hospitals join the exclusive club? Let’s take a closer look: Who is Trehan? Trehan was born on 12 August, 1946. His father was an ENT doctor and his mother was a gynaecologist. His family moved to Delhi’s Connaught Place after Partition. Trehan studied at Delhi’s Modern School. In 1963, Trehan joined Hindu college after which he decided to pursue his MBBS at King George’s Medical College in Lucknow. Trehan did his internship New Delhi’s Safdarjang Hospital.

As per Moneycontrol, Trehan then practiced at New York University Medical Center from 1971 to 1988.

He conducted his first surgery in 1976 – on a 55-year-old man from New York City. In 1988, Trehan returned to India. Trehan and HP Nanda founded the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre (EHIRC). Its aim was to “have the best cardiac treatment in India, to arrange for better training of doctors and to pioneer new research projects with a special focus on Indian patients.” In 1991, Trehan was appointed as the personal surgeon to the President of India. Trehan remained the executive director and chief cardiovascular surgeon of the EHIRC for two decades. In 2005, the Fortis Healthcare Group bought EHIRC. Trehan also served as senior consultant, cardiovascular surgery at, New Delhi’s Apollo Hospital,. In 2007, Trehan began Medanta in Haryana’s Gurgaon. As per the Medanta website, Trehan has conducted over 48,000 open heart surgeries. [caption id=“attachment_13453102” align=“alignnone” width=“640”] Dr Naresh Trehan began Medanta in Haryana’s Gurgaon in 2007.[/caption] Trehan has received several prestigious awards in the course of his career including the Padma Shri (1991), Padma Bhushan (2001), Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award, and Dr BC Roy Award. In 2012, Trehan was given the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award for Medanta. How he joined the billionaire club As per Moneycontrol, Trehan, 77 became a billionaire after shares of Global Health – Medanta’s operator – rose massively in 2023. Global Health’s shares were listed at Rs 366 per unit on 16 November, 2022. The stock on 30 November touched a record high at Rs 972.55 per share on 30 November, 2023. That’s a 165 per cent jump. Trehan owns a 33.06 per cent stake in Global Health – around 88.73 million shares.

That puts his net worth at Rs 8,402.30 crore – $1 billion.

As per The Times of India, Global Health’s market cap has spiked to Rs 25,696 crore – a 104 per cent increase – over the past year. In the last one year, the company’s market capitalisation has increased by Rs 13,100 crore or 104% to Rs 25,696 crore, based on Thursday’s close price of the stock. Jeffries India in its latest note maintained its ‘buy’ rating on Medanta. “We maintain our Buy rating on Medanta, driven by their high growth prospects, clinical excellence, and balanced play between Metros and Tier I. We increase our FY25/26E by 14%/14% on higher margin and occupancy for both mature and developing hospitals. We value Medanta’s EV at 25.5x Sep-25E EBITDA”, said Jefferies India in its latest note. With inputs from agencies