Sunny Varkey is a billionaire, philanthropist, founder and executive chairman of GEMS, chairman of the Varkey Group, trustee of the Varkey Foundation.
Biography
- 1957 — Varkey was born in Indian Kerala. His parents were Syrians who worked as educators.
- 1959 — Sunny Varkey’s family moved to the UAE.
- 1961 — returned to India to study in school.
- 1970 — He came to the UAE and graduated from Catholic High School. Varkey studied for a year in the United Kingdom and later in Dubai through the British Council.
Varkey had a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the University of Calicut.
Varkey resides in Dubai. He is married, and Sunny Varkey’s sons have taken on leadership roles at GEMS Education. His sister manages preschool institutions, while his wife and mother provide advisory support.
Career
- In 1977, I worked at a bank in the UAE (Standard Chattered).
- 1979 — Founded The Varkey Group.
- 1980 — began managing his parents’ school.
- 1984 — establishment of Welcare.
- 2000 — establishment of Global Education Management Systems.
- 2003 — GEMS schools opened in Britain and other countries.
- 2012— Emirates Healthcare, Welcare’s parent company, was sold to Mediclinic International.
Charity
- December 2010 — launching the Varkey Foundation.
- March 2011 — Partnership at $1 million with UNESCO to educate girls in Africa.
- September 2011 — donation of $1 million to train 10,000 school principals in Africa and India.
- 2014 — establishment of the $1 million award Global Teacher Prize.
Wealth
At the beginning of 2025, Sunny Varkey’s net worth was $3.8 billion.
Merits
- 2007 – Award Global Indian Business.
- 2007 – Award CEO Middle East.
- 2007 – Outstanding Asian Businessman of the Year.
- 2008 – Award Rajiv Gandhi.
- 2009 – National Award Padma Shri.
- 2012 – Award Middle East CEO of the Year.
- 2012 – UNESCO appointed him as a Goodwill Ambassador.
- 2012 – Education Business Leader of the Year.
- 2012 – Honorary Doctorate (Heriot-Watt University).
- 2018 – Entrepreneur of the Year by the version of The Asian Awards.