| Honorific Prefix: | Dr |
| Shesh Ghale | |
| Native Name Lang: | nep |
| Birth Place: | Lamjung, Nepal |
| Occupation: | Entrepreneur |
| Spouse: | Jamuna Gurung |
Dr Shesh Ghale is a Nepali Australian businessman, billionaire and the former president of Non Resident Nepali Association (NRNA). Based in Melbourne, Victoria, Ghale is the CEO of Melbourne Institute of Technology (MIT), which he co-founded with his wife, Jamuna Gurung.
Ghale and his wife, Gurung, are the No.3 billionaires of Nepalese origin.
In 2024 the Australian Rich list 250 they are ranked 157 with Networth of $1.0B
Born in the western Nepal village of Lamjung, Ghale undertook his initial tertiary education in the former USSR (1979 to 1986) graduating with a Master of Civil Engineering degree from the Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University. He undertook his studies on a Nepalese Government scholarship and, on returning to Nepal, worked as a highway project engineer for the Nepalese Government's transport department. Ghale relocated to Melbourne in 1990 to undertake further studies and to settle his family in Australia. He graduated from Victoria University in 1994 with a Master of Business Administration.
He is actively involved in Melbourne's business and commercial life and has a passionate commitment to education.
Ghale is the CEO and co-founder of the Melbourne Institute of Technology.
Ghale and his wife, Gurung, were the first billionaires in the global Nepalese diaspora and the only third billionaire of Nepalese origin after Acharya Balkrishna and Binod Chaudhary.
Ghale and Gurung first appeared on the BRW Rich 200 in 2009, and jointly appeared on subsequent rich lists.[1] [2] [3], the net worth of Gurung and Ghale was assessed by The Australian Financial Review in the 2023 Rich List as approximately 900 million.
| Year | Financial Review Rich List | Forbes Australia's 50 Richest | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Net worth (A$) | Rank | |||
| 2014 | $335 million | ||||
| 2015 | $528 million | ||||
| 2016[4] | $586 million | ||||
| 2017[5] [6] [7] | $647 million | ||||
| 2018[8] | $876 million | ||||
| 2019[9] [10] | |||||
| 2020[11] | $994 million | ||||
| 2021[12] | $1.01 billion | ||||
| 2022 | $1.00 billion | ||||
| 2023[13] | $900 million |
| Legend | ||
|---|---|---|
| Icon | Description | |
| Has not changed from the previous year | ||
| Has increased from the previous year | ||
| Has decreased from the previous year | ||
Ghale is known both for his philanthropic work, especially in the aftermath of the April and May 2015 earthquakes in Nepal, as well as for his rise from an international student to his listing on the list of Australian billionaires. Following the 2015 Nepal earthquakes, as the president of NRNA International Coordination Council (ICC), Ghale led a well-coordinated relief and reconstruction activities. As a result, he and his wife spent much of the following years leading the campaign by stationing themselves closer to the ground zero of the devastating earthquake.
Some of his key achievements included service as the Honorary Consul General of Nepal in Victoria (1997-2000); nominated for the 2013 Ernst and Young Australian Entrepreneur of the Year Award; elected president of the Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) for an inaugural two-year term (2013–2015) and re-elected for a second two-year term (2015–2017); awarded Doctor of the University Honoris Causa in 2015 by the Federation University in recognition of Ghale's distinguished service and contribution to Australian Higher Education, and to urban preservation and development, and of course to the people of Nepal; appointed "Special Envoy for Nepal Earthquake Reconstruction and Development" by the Government of Nepal in 2015; and in the same year appointed "Goodwill Ambassador for 2015-17" in the Male Leaders in the campaign against Domestic Violence by the Nepalese Ministry of Children, Women and Social Services.[14]
In 2015, Ghale and Gurung co-founded the MIT Group Foundation to help under-privileged and vulnerable communities of Nepal through education and health. They have donated NPR रू1 billion to the Foundation.[15] [16] [17] [18] [19]