Narayana Murthy gifts 4-month-old grandson Rs 240 crore Infosys stake: How toddlers become 'promoters'

Infosys co-founder, Narayana Murthy is making headlines this week as he gives their grandchild Ekagrah shares valued at crores of rupees.

Thanks to such gifts, some of the businessmen’s grandkids are now members of the promoters group.

He has become the youngest millionaire in the country.

Let’s take a closer look.

The most expensive gift

According to a stock exchange filing, on Friday, Narayana Murthy gave his four-month-old grandson Ekagrah a present of 15 lakh shares.

The filing says the infant currently owns 1,500,000 shares, or 0.04 per cent of the value of Rs 240 crore, in the second-largest information technology company in India.

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Ekagrah, the youngest Infosys promoter group member, was born in November 2023 to Rohan, Murthy’s son, and his daughter-in-law Aparna Krishnan. He is the third grandchild of Murthy, as per The Times of India.

His two other granddaughters, Krishna and Anoushka, are born to his daughter Akshata Murty, the first lady of the UK and Rishi Sunak, Britain’s prime minister.

The promoter and promoter group of Infosys owned 54,86,43,979 shares, or 14.78 per cent of Infosys Ltd., as of December 2023. Akshata possesses 3,89,57,096 shares, which equals 1.05 per cent of the company’s equity, reported Mint.

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The son of the Infosys co-founder, Rohan, owns 6.08,12,892 shares, or 1.64 per cent of the company. Their mother, Sudha Murty, recently took the oath of office as a member of the Rajya Sabha, owns 3.45,50,626 shares, or 0.93 per cent of the company, valued at about Rs 5,600 crore at current market prices.

Other crorepati babies

Tanush Nilekani Chandra, the grandson of Nandan Nilekani, became a new member of the promoter group two years ago, owning 7.7 lakh shares. Nilekani’s daughter Janhavi transferred these shares, as per TOI.

These shares were valued at Rs 106 crore at the time. These shares are valued at Rs 124 crore as of Monday’s closure. Tanush presently owns 33.5 lakh Infosys shares, which are valued at approximately Rs 530 crore.

Co-founder of Infosys SD Shibulal and his daughter Shruti Shibulal had already given shares to Milan Shibulal Manchanda, the former’s grandson, and other family members totaling R 2,327 crore. Milan currently has about 69 lakh shares, which are worth more than Rs 1,100 crore, the report claims.

Nikita Shibulal Manchanda, Shruti’s daughter, owns more than 69 lakh shares as well.

Decline in own stake

In the wake of this transaction, Murthy’s personal ownership of more than 1.51 crore shares in the Bengaluru-based company has decreased from 0.40 per cent to 0.36 per cent.

The exchange filing also stated that the share transfer was done “off-market,” as per Business Standard.

On the National Stock Exchange, its shares closed at Rs 1,601.80 apiece on Monday, down two per cent from Friday’s finish.

Another case of babies becoming a millionaire

Well, Ekagrah is not the only one who became a millionaire even before he started walking or speaking.

According to Times Now, a two-day-old newborn girl in the UK became a millionaire in June 2023 after receiving a mansion worth Rs 10.44 crore and an additional Rs 52 crore from a trust fund from her multimillionaire grandfather.

On Instagram, multimillionaire Barrie Drewitt-Barlow revealed the birth of his daughter Saffron Drewitt-Barlow, a girl.

While speaking to The Sun, Barrie said, “I’m so proud of both Saffron and her husband Conor. They are very well-matched. Now I have another princess to spoil and I cannot wait.”

She said, “I just bought her a new house this weekend worth £1 million and I’ve instructed a team of interior designers to go in and totally renovate it for her. As pen (Saffron’s brother) just bought them a £5,000 Dior pram and pushchair.”

Barrie went on to say that she is already a multimillionaire since her ex-husband Tony established a £5 million trust fund for her.

Barrie and Tony’s multimillion-dollar wealth came from a transatlantic surrogacy agency among other business endeavours.

Ways for grandparents to bequeath to a grandchild

A will or a trust are the two most common ways to leave immovable property, such as property you own yourself, to your grandkids.

A will is a formal statement of a person’s desires that he/she wants to be fulfilled after he/she passes away, according to another Livemint report. It controls the transfer of property and establishes the succession as specified by the testator.

On the other hand, in a trust, a third person, or trustee, is permitted to hold assets on behalf of beneficiaries under this fiduciary arrangement. Trusts can be set up in a variety of ways, with the ability to control the precise manner and timing of asset transfer to beneficiaries.

In addition to real estate and personal belongings, grandparents can invest for their grandkids. Mutual funds are one type of such tool. As with any financial objectives, it’s best to begin thinking about a grandchild’s succession early on.

With inputs from agencies