Dr. Devi Prasad Shetty is an Indian cardiothoracic surgeon, the self-made billionaire founder and Chairman of Narayana Health (NSE: NARAYANA), a major network of multi-specialty hospitals dedicated to providing affordable and accessible quality healthcare. Born in Kinnigoli, Karnataka, in 1953, he was the eighth of nine siblings.

His interest in cardiac surgery was sparked during his primary school years. He graduated with his medical degrees from Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, and completed advanced cardiothoracic surgical training at Guy's Hospital in London, U.K. After returning to India in 1989, he achieved a major medical milestone by performing India's first neonatal heart surgery on a 21-day-old infant in 1992. He also served as the personal physician for Mother Teresa in 1996.

Dr. Devi Shetty founded Narayana Hrudayalaya (now Narayana Health) in 2000 with an audacious vision: create an economically sustainable model that could provide high-quality cardiac surgery and complex medical care at the lowest cost possible, making it accessible to India's poor. His model, often studied by the Harvard Business School, is built on high volume, efficient process automation, and technology to drive down clinical errors and costs.

Under his leadership, Narayana Health expanded into a network of multi-specialty hospitals, specializing in cardiac care but growing into a full-service provider. His innovative ideas led him to pioneer Yeshaswini, a very inexpensive micro health insurance scheme benefiting over 4.3 million rural poor in Karnataka. His structural contribution is the successful proof that quality healthcare can be affordable and accessible for every single individual, securing his multi-billion dollar fortune and cementing his legacy as a revolutionary healthcare entrepreneur.

Dr. Devi Shetty's social impact is massive, structural, and humanitarian: his model made complex medical and cardiac surgery affordable for the global poor. The Yeshaswini micro health insurance scheme is a landmark social innovation that extended coverage to millions of rural citizens.

He is a recipient of the Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri (India's national honors), the Economist Innovation Award, and the Nikkei Asia Prize. His commitment is to the ethical delivery of healthcare, proving that business principles can be successfully applied to solve the massive problem of medical affordability.

Dr. Devi Shetty maintains the professional, humble style of a dedicated cardiac surgeon. His attire is consistently professional and conservative, often featuring simple business suits or his surgical scrubs. His aesthetic is one of serious authority, rooted in his medical expertise and humanitarian mission.

Residing in Bengaluru, his luxury is the profound security and autonomy derived from his multi-billion dollar fortune, which he leverages entirely to fund and expand his model of affordable, quality healthcare globally.