IDFC Bank CEO Gifts $500,000 Of Shares To Chauffeur, Maths Tutor

New Delhi: In an unusual gesture, the chief executive officer (CEO) of IDFC First Bank Ltd. gifted $530,000 worth of the shares he owns to his driver, trainer, and helpers at home. 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, Bloomberg Quint reported.

Filings show that Vaidyanathan, 54, has gifted roughly 38% of his stake since January 2018, when he was head of the 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 Rs 500 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.

Monday’s filing shows that another 200,000 shares were sold by a welfare trust to fund its social activities, the report added. IDFC First Bank’s shares have risen about 5% since December 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.