Two former Harvard classmates and billionaires – Bill Gates and Anand Mahindra – met again during the former’s visit to India. Mahindra, 67, shared photos from the meet and said they spoke about collaborating to “multiply social impact”.
Gates also signed his book for Mahindra, who was delighted to get a free copy, he said.
In the book, Gates wrote: “To Anand, best wishes to my classmate! Bill Gates”.
The Mahindra Group Chairman wrote on Twitter: “Good to see Bill Gates again. And, refreshingly, the entire conversation between our teams was not about IT or any business but about how we could work together to multiply social impact. (Though there was some profit involved for me; I got a free, autographed copy of his book).”
The two posed with the book in one photo while the other was an image of the signed book.
Twitter users were surprised to know that they were classmates with one user commenting: “You guys were classmates?!” to which another replied: “At Harvard, yes”.
Both businessmen attended Harvard University in the 1970s with Mahindra graduating in 1977 and Gates dropping out after two years.
The connection between Gates and Mahindra also continued much later, with Mahindra having served as a keynote speaker at the Microsoft CEO Summit in 2005. In addition, the Mahindra Group has partnered with Microsoft on several occasions to leverage the company's expertise in cloud computing and other areas.
Moreover, both Gates and Mahindra are known for their philanthropic efforts. Gates is perhaps most famous for his work with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which focuses on improving global health and reducing poverty. Mahindra, meanwhile, has established the Mahindra Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting education, healthcare, and other social causes.
This is Gates' first visit to India since the COVID-19 pandemic.
"I’m headed back to India next week. Although I’ve spent a lot of time there over the years—doing everything from checking out toilets to visiting a village that’s home to the one poorest, most underserved castes in India—I haven’t been back since before the pandemic. I can’t wait to see how much progress has been made in that time," he wrote on his blog Gates Notes.
He met with several business leaders and other key people to further his philanthropic causes in the country.
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