India-born venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has found a place in the Forbes list of the 10 greenest billionaires, who have achieved corporate success through investment in environmental causes.
For the list, Forbes chose the billionaires who are most active in green, sustainable causes and who are working to have the greatest impact in safeguarding the environment.
In addition, the US magazine said that the top 10 greenest billionaires "are altruistic, yes, but most of them are also very much aiming to turn a profit."
Writing about the Silicon Valley billionaire, the magazine said, "Vinod Khosla -- a co-founder of Sun Microsystems and a longtime partner at venture capital powerhouse Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers -- has, with fellow billionaire and green business supporter John Doerr, been pouring millions of dollars into green tech companies."
Khosla, who has a net worth of USD 1.1 billion, entered the business in 2004 through his Khosla Ventures, providing funding to dozens of innovative companies involved in areas such as sustainable building materials, solar power and
advanced biofuels.
The company claims to capture massive volumes of carbon dioxide and other emissions and convert those emissions into building materials such as cement. Khosla Ventures funds "science experiments" and takes on both "for profit" and "for social impact" ventures, Forbes added.
Besides Khosla, Israeli billionaire and Carnival Cruises heiress Shari Arison has also found a place in the list.
Richard Branson of Virgin Airlines and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin also feature in the list.
Interestingly, the top 10 greenest billionaires hail from countries like the US, the UK, Israel, Germany and Canada.
Others on the list include John Doerr of the US, German billionaires Aloys Wobben and Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis, Canada's Jeffrey Skoll and Sam Wyly of the US.
More than USD 200 billion will be invested this year in sustainable businesses globally, a 40 per cent increase from 2009, Forbes said, citing Daniel Esty, a professor of environmental law at Yale University who advised President
Barack Obama's during his election campaign on environmental issues.