Sunny Varkey (born 9 April 1957)McNicholas, Mona Parikh; Raj, Frank. . ''The International Indian''. 2008: Issue 5, Volume 15.5. pp. 56–60. is an Indian education entrepreneur and philanthropist based in

Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...

. He is the founder and executive chairman of the global advisory and educational management firm GEMS Education, which is the largest operator of private kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world, with a network of over 80 schools in over a dozen countries.Sunny Varkey
– Profile at ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine founded by B. C. Forbes in 1917. It has been owned by the Hong Kong–based investment group Integrated Whale Media Investments since 2014. Its chairman and editor-in-chief is Steve Forbes. The co ...

''.List of Our Schools
''GEMSeducation.com''. He is also the chairman of the umbrella business organisation the Varkey Group, and the founder and trustee of the philanthropic Varkey Foundation. As of 2012, Varkey is also a

UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador is an official postnominal honorific title, title of authority, legal status and job description assigned to those goodwill ambassadors and advocates who are designated by the United Nations. UNESCO goodwill ambas ...

.Goodwill Ambassadors – Sunny Varkey
''UNESCO.org''. Retrieved 13 September 2017. And in June 2015, Varkey committed to

The Giving Pledge The Giving Pledge is a charitable campaign, founded by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, to encourage wealthy people to contribute a majority (i.e. more than 50%) of their wealth to philanthropic causes. , the pledge has had 236 signatories from 28 ...

, vowing to donate at least half of his money to philanthropic causes over his lifetime. He is the first education entrepreneur to join the pledge. According to Forbes, Varkey is one of India's richest billionaires with a net worth of $3.5 billion.

Early life and education

Varkey was born in Ranni,

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

in 1957. His father, K. S. Varkey, and mother, Mariamma, were Kerala Syrian Christians, and educators.Hamdan, Sara
"Building an Education Empire"
''Global Citizen''. July/August 2012. The family moved to

in 1959, when the emirate was still very undeveloped."Education for profit in the Arab world"
United Arab Emirates: ''NRI Internet''. 7 December 2004. His father worked for British Bank of the Middle East (now called

HSBC Bank Middle East HSBC Bank Middle East Limited (Arabic: إتش إس بي سي الشرق الأوسط) is the largest and most widely represented international bank in the Middle East. History The Imperial Bank of Persia (Persian: بانک شاهنشاهی ا� ...

), and both of his parents taught English to local Arabs, including members of the royal family.''Peschardt's Business People'' – Segment: Sunny Varkey
''

Peschardt's People ''Peschardt's People'' is a documentary television series, hosted by Michael Peschardt, that premiered on BBC World on 1 April 2006. In the series, Peschardt interviews famous and not so famous personalities from the Asia-Pacific region. In orde ...

''.

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios ...

. 9 April 2010. At the age of four, Sunny was sent back to Kerala to attend Infant Jesus Anglo-Indian Boys' School, a Catholic

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

Kollam Kollam (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...

city.Kerr, Simeon
"School rooms for everyone"
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''. 18 June 2013. When he was 11 years old, he sold fruit on the side of the road to make a little extra money. He and his elder sister returned to Dubai in 1970, and Sunny completed his O-Levels at St. Mary's Catholic High School.Hui, Kok Xing
"Grad of the school of hard knocks"
''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

''. 14 September 2013. He pursued his

A-Levels The A-level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational ...

at Bembridge School in the UK for a year,Bhatia, Asha
"Early days of Varkey schools: it was a management challenge"
''

Gulf News ''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...

''. 9 March 2001.Vijayakumar, Sanjay
"Sunny Varkey banks on Centum Learning to revive India business"
''

The Economic Times ''The Economic Times'' is an Indian English-language business-focused daily newspaper. Owned by The Times Group, ''The Economic Times'' began publication in 1961 and it is sold in all major cities in India. As of 2012, it is the world's secon ...

''. 6 September 2012. and completed his A-Levels in Dubai at the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Career

GEMS Education

Varkey's parents founded Our Own English High School in Dubai in 1968.Guttenplan, D. D
"Entrepreneur Seeks to Offer High-Quality Education at Fraction of Cost"
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. 26 May 2013. Varkey returned to Dubai in 1977, and his employment included work at

Standard Chartered Standard Chartered PLC is a British multinational bank with operations in wealth management, corporate and investment banking, and treasury services. Despite being headquartered in the United Kingdom, it does not conduct retail banking in th ...

bank, opening a small trading company and a maintenance company, becoming part owner of the Dubai Plaza Hotel, and entering the healthcare industry.Woodward, Will
"Business class"
''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. 12 December 2005. When in 1980 local authorities insisted that his parents' Our Own English High School be housed in a purpose-built facility, Varkey took over the operation of the school, which had under 400 students at the time. He dropped his other businesses, expanded the school, and added new schools as well. The education situation in Dubai was ripe for expansion, since local schools were only for native Arabs, and the children of the ever-increasing number of expats needed education of their own. Varkey opened Indian, Pakistani, and British schools, and offered education under the different curricula: Indian ( CBSE and ICSE), U.S., British, and later

International Baccalaureate The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO), more commonly known as the International Baccalaureate (IB), is a nonprofit foundation headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and founded in 1968. It offers four educational programmes: the I ...

.Lewis, Kathryn
"The man who built an education empire"
'' The National''. 13 September 2008.Sharif, Arif
"World’s Biggest Private School Operator GEMS Seeks $1 Billion"
''

Bloomberg Bloomberg may refer to: People * Daniel J. Bloomberg (1905–1984), audio engineer * Georgina Bloomberg (born 1983), professional equestrian * Michael Bloomberg (born 1942), American businessman and founder of Bloomberg L.P.; politician a ...

''. 27 March 2013. In 2000 Varkey established Global Education Management Systems (GEMS), an advisory and educational management firm, in advance of his worldwide overseas expansion.Zachariahs, Candice
"The McSchool revolution"
''

''. 24 September 2004. In 2003, he began opening GEMS schools in England and elsewhere."No-Frills Public Schools: Day"
''NRI Internet''. 22 January 2005.

Varkey Foundation

In December 2010, Varkey consolidated and structured his various donations and charitable initiatives by creating the Varkey Foundation (initially the Varkey GEMS Foundation) as the philanthropic arm of GEMS. The foundation intends to impact 100 impoverished children for every child enrolled at GEMS schools, via enrolment and education-access initiatives, worldwide teacher training programs, advocacy campaigns, and physical projects such as building classrooms, schools, and learning centres.

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

launched the foundation. MacriconSunnyVarkey

In March 2011, the foundation partnered with

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

for girls' education in Lesotho and

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, and donated $1,000,000 to the effort. In September 2011, a further $1 million was pledged with UNESCO to train 10,000 school principals in India, Ghana, and Kenya. In 2014, the foundation's Teacher Training Programme committed to train 250,000 teachers within 10 years in under-served communities across the world. In 2013, the Varkey Foundation helped launch the annual Global Education and Skills Forum, in partnership with UNESCO and the U.A.E. Ministry of Education. Bill Clinton gave the inaugural keynote address. At the second annual forum in March 2014, Varkey announced the Global Teacher Prize, a $1 million award to an exceptional teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the profession, to be presented at the third annual GESF in 2015.

Varkey Group

Varkey Group is the umbrella organisation covering GEMS Education and Varkey's other businesses, including healthcare and, previously, construction. Varkey founded the company in 1979, and it is based in Dubai, with additional offices in the UK, U.S., and India. In 1984 Varkey founded Welcare, a healthcare consultancy and management venture which developed a number of hospitals and clinics.EHL Management Services
First Medical Centre. A controlling interest in Emirates Healthcare, the Varkey Group's umbrella company which held Welcare, was purchased by Mediclinic International in 2012. The sale of his healthcare sector allowed Varkey to focus on education and educational philanthropy.

Honors

*Global Indian Business Award (2007) *CEO Middle East Award – Corporate Social Responsibility (2007) *Outstanding Asian Businessman of the Year (2007) *

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian statesman and pilot who served as the prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the Assassination of Indira Gandhi, assassination of his mother, then–prime ...

Award for Eminent Educationist (2008) *

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

Award (2009) *Honorary Order – Public Recognition award from the Government of Russia (2011) *Middle East Excellence CEO of the Year – Knowledge Development and Education Partnership (2012) *

(2012) *Education Business Leader of the Year, ''Gulf Business'' Industry Awards (2012) *Honorary Doctorate,

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University () is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and was subsequently granted university status by roya ...

(2012) *Entrepreneur of the Year,

The Asian Awards The Asian Awards is an annual award ceremony for the global British Asian, Asian community which takes place in the United Kingdom, with 14 categories that include business, philanthropy, entertainment, culture and sport. Nominees are selected by ...

(2018)

Personal life

Varkey lives in

. He is married and has two sons, Dino and Jay, who have taken leadership roles in GEMS Education, allowing him to focus on his philanthropic foundation.Rai, Saritha
"Billionaire Education Entrepreneur Varkey Takes His Dubai School Chain Worldwide"
''

''. 2 April 2014.Members of the Board: Jay Varkey
''GEMSeducation.com''. Varkey's sister, Susan Mathews, runs pre-schools, and his wife and mother have both offered advice on the GEMS family business.Davidson, Sean
"The bottom line is vital. Losses are not an option"
'' Emirates 24/7''. 11 April 2009.

References

External links

Official siteSunny Varkey
– Profile at ''

Bloomberg Businessweek ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'' (and before that ''Business Week'' and ''The Business Week''), is an American monthly business magazine published 12 times a year. The magazine debuted in New York City in Septembe ...

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Varkey, Sunny Businesspeople from Kerala Businesspeople of Indian descent Indian chairpersons of corporations Indian emigrants to the United Arab Emirates Founders of educational institutions Indian philanthropists GEMS schools 1957 births Living people Kerala diaspora 21st-century Indian philanthropists UNESCO goodwill ambassadors