NNWN / Kolkata, 2017-07-14

Do you know who is Ajit Jain and why is he being talked about. Some of you may not know him but he is a philanthropist in his own style. Jain is an IIT Kharagpur alumnus who heads the US-based Berkshire Hathaway Inc's insurance group. Ajit Jain has donated to his alma mater an unspecified quantity of his stock holding in employer Warren Buffett’s conglomerate.It is a sort of gurudakshina.

A gesture which is quite "unique" in its way as “it is a rare for an alumnus to make a contribution in stocks”. Jain has transferred the stocks to the trading account of the IIT KGP US Foundation . Acknowledging the gesture of its alumunus, IIT Kharagpur said on Thursday that  Till now, the institute has been receiving only monetary donations. However, in a recent initiative, IITKGP has been encouraging donation of stocks and shares to the institute, ” the institute stated in a press release.

The donation is in line with the philosophy of Berkshire Hathaway boss Buffett, a philanthropist who has already given billions of dollars to charity. In a 2016 letter to Berkshire shareholders, Buffett, the chairman of the board, had said of Jain: “If there were ever to be another Ajit and you could swap me for him, don’t hesitate. Make the trade!”