Divi is the founder and managing director of Divi's Laboratories, a maker of generic drugs. The Hyderabad-based company is the world's largest manufacturer of more than 10 generic active pharmaceutical ingredients. It had revenue of 78 billion Indian rupees ($930 million) in the year to March 31, 2024.
The majority of Divi's fortune is derived from his stake in Divi's Laboratories, a maker of generic drugs. The Hyderabad-based company is the world's largest manufacturer of more than 10 generic active pharmaceutical ingredients, according to its website. The billionaire owns about 52% of the company, according to a June 2024 filing.
Divi holds the shares directly and through Divi's Biotech, a closely held entity. All family-owned shares are attributed to him to reflect his status as founder and managing director.
The value of his cash investments is based on an analysis of dividends, insider transactions, taxes and market performance.
A spokesperson for the company didn't respond to a request for comment on the net worth calculation.
Divi was born 1957 in a village in Andhra Pradesh, a state in southern India, and grew up in a family of about a dozen children. After his secondary education, he began studying pharmaceutical sciences at university and graduated at the top of his class in the mid-1970s.
He used this credential to apply for a US visa and landed in San Antonio, where he worked as a chemist, accompanied by his wife and son. After almost a decade in America, Divi said he was struck by a thought: "What am I doing here so far away from my family?" They returned to India shortly after. He partnered with late entrepreneur Kallam Anji Reddy on a business venture, and founded his own enterprise, Divi's Laboratories, in 1990.
The company began developing commercial processes for making so-called APIs — active pharmaceutical ingredients, the key components of drugs. It built its first plant in 1995 and the company went public in India in March 2003. Divi expanded into other types of pharma manufacturing and became one of the world's largest producers of APIs.