Indian CEO gives $530,000 in shares to driver, house help

The chief executive officer of IDFC First Bank Ltd. gifted $530,000 worth of the shares he owns to his driver, trainer, and helpers at home and office in an unusual gesture of philanthropy in India.

V. Vaidyanathan gave 900,000 shares or 3.7% of his holding in the private sector lender. The recipients will use the funds to buy homes, according to an exchange filing. The value of the holding is based on Monday’s closing price.

Filings show that Vaidyanathan, 54, has gifted roughly 38% of his stake since January 2018, when he was head of shadow lender Capital First that was later merged with listed IDFC Bank to create IDFC First Bank. That includes a 2020 gift to his former mathematics teacher, who had lent Vaidyanathan 500 rupees when the now-CEO was a broke student who had won admission into a premier school but didn’t have the cash to travel to the institute.

Another 200,000 shares were sold by a welfare trust to fund its social activities, Monday’s filing shows.

Shares in IDFC First Bank have risen about 5% since Dec. 18, 2018, when the bank was created.It has also recovered from a 2020 slump amid the pandemic and Vaidyanathan was re-appointed for another term that ends in 2024.