2 PIOs in Forbes list of USA’s 50 richest self-made women

Two Indian-origin women have made it to Forbes’ inaugural list of America’s 50 richest self-made women, sharing the honour with high-achievers such as Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg, media mogul Oprah Winfrey and singer Beyonce.

India-born Neerja Sethi, with a net worth of $1.1 billion, has been ranked 14th on the list of the most successful self-made women in the US while London-born Jayshree Ullal comes in at the 30th spot with a $470 million net worth. Sethi, 60 co-founded IT consulting and outsourcing company Syntel with her husband, billionaire Bharat Desai, in 1980. She served as Syntel’s treasurer during its first 16 years of operations and is currently the vice president of corporate affairs, a role she has had since the company’s inception, Forbes said.

Through their family foundation, the couple pledged $1 million in 2014 to the University of Michigan to develop a start-up accelerator. Ullal became president and CEO of Arista Networks, which is now one of Silicon Valley’s most valuable networking firms. Forbes said Ullal “is one of <g data-gr-id="17">wealthiest</g> female US executives”. “She took slightly more than an engineering team doing some good technology and turned it into the thriving network switch company it is today,” said Arista co-founder David Cheriton.