Vivek Ranadivé facts for kids

Vivek Ranadivé (born 7 October 1957) is an Indian-American businessman, engineer, and author. He is also a speaker and helps others through charity work. Vivek is known for starting TIBCO Software, a company that makes special computer programs for businesses. He also owns and leads the Sacramento Kings, a professional basketball team in the National Basketball Association (NBA). In 2022, he also bought the Sacramento River Cats, a baseball team.

Early Life and Education

Vivek Ranadivé grew up in Mumbai, India. He was the youngest of three children in his family. He went to the Bombay International School in Mumbai. When he was 16, he was accepted into Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the United States. However, in the 1970s, the Indian government did not usually help people financially to study abroad. Vivek managed to convince the Reserve Bank of India to give him the money he needed for his first three months of tuition.

After getting his bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from MIT, he earned a master's degree in business from Harvard Business School in 1983. While he was at MIT, Vivek started his very first company. It was a company that helped businesses with their computer systems. He also worked in management and engineering roles at other companies like Ford Motor Company.

Starting New Companies

In 1985, a company called Teknekron Corp. gave Vivek $250,000 to start his own software company, Teknekron Software Systems. This company helped businesses use technology better.

Later, in 1997, Vivek Ranadivé started another company called TIBCO Software Inc. He got money from big companies like Cisco and Reuters to help him begin.

In 2016, Vivek also started Bow Capital. This company invests money in new, promising startup businesses. They work with the University of California Regents.

In the NBA

Golden State Warriors

In 2010, Vivek Ranadivé became a co-owner and vice chairman of the Golden State Warriors. This made him the first person of Indian descent to help own an NBA team.

Sacramento Kings

On 21 March 2013, it was announced that Vivek Ranadivé was part of a group trying to buy the Sacramento Kings basketball team. To buy the Kings, he had to sell his share of the Golden State Warriors. On 16 May 2013, his group reached an agreement to buy most of the Kings team. The NBA officially approved the sale on 28 May.

In 2014, Vivek suggested a new way for the Kings to play basketball. He wanted his team to always keep one player on offense, even when the other team had the ball. This would mean his team would play defense with only four players against five.

Books Written

Vivek Ranadivé has written several books about business and technology. These books often talk about how companies can use technology to understand and react to changes quickly.

Family Life

Vivek Ranadivé has three children with his former wife, Deborah Addicott. Their children are named Aneel, Andre, and Anjali.

Anjali is a singer and songwriter. She uses the stage name "Nani," which means "maternal grandmother" in Hindi. Anjali studied marine science at UC Berkeley. She started a non-profit group called Jaws & Paws. This group helps teach people about protecting sharks, polar bears, and tigers. In 2015, she received an award for her work in ocean leadership. She also played in the 2022 NBA All-Star Celebrity Game.

Vivek Ranadivé once coached his daughter's basketball team when the girls were 12 and under. He had never played basketball himself until he was in his 40s! The story of his team's unexpected success was shared by author Malcolm Gladwell in The New Yorker magazine. This story was also included in Gladwell's 2013 book, David and Goliath.