IDFC First Bank CEO gifts shares worth Rs 3.95 cr to house help, driver to help them buy homes; social media hails banker with a 'heart of gold'

Any act of philanthropy is bound to attract attention from everywhere. In what can be termed an unusual act of kindness, MD and CEO V Vaidyanathan of IDFC First Bank has gifted around 9 lakh shares to five people unrelated to him. These five people include the CEO’s trainer, house-help, driver.

According to the exchange filing, he gifted the shares to help them fulfil their dream of owning homes. The 9 lakh shares are equal to 3.7% of his holding in the private sector lender. The holding is valued based on Monday’s closing price.

Monday’s closing price was Rs 43.90 apiece on BSE taking the value of 9 lakh shares gifted by Vaidyanathan to Rs 3,95,10,000.


Vaidyanathan gifted 3 lakh shares to his trainer Ramesh Raju, 2 lakh shares each to house-help Pranjal Narvekar and driver Algarsamy C Munapar, 1 lakh each to another house-help Santosh Jogale and support staff Deepak Pathare.

This is not the first time. In the past, the MD had gifted shares to unrelated people. Exchange filings show that the 54-year-old has gifted around 38% of his stake since January 2018. He was the chief of shadow lender Capital First which later merged with IDFC Bank.

In 2020, he had reportedly gifted shares to his former mathematics teacher who had lent him Rs 500 when he got into a premier school but did not have the cash to travel.

Ever since the news broke out, social media has been abuzz with IDFC First Bank trending on Twitter. Several users shared the news calling Vaidyanathan a ‘banker with a heart of gold’.
IDFC First Bank was established in 2018 and has grown by 5% since then. The financial institution also recovered from the pandemic-induced slump in 2020. During this time Vaidyanathan was re-appointed for a period till 2024.