Ghale, the Australian multimillionaire of Nepali origin, with a fortune of AU$265 million and listed among the 200 richest Australians by the Business Review Weekly, has very inspiring stories to tell. [break]
Born in Naiyu Village of Lamjung, Ghale left his home at 12 to study.
“I had to walk four kilometers to go to my primary school,” recalls Ghale. “Most men of the Ghale community join the Indian Army but I was fortunate that my father didn’t leave us and it was he who always motivated me to study.”
After passing his SLC examinations in the first division, which was a very rare achievement for those who studied in village schools in the 1970s, Ghale came to Kathmandu for further studies.
“It was very difficult for me to overcome the psychological and cultural shocks I faced in the capital. But it taught me how to cope in different environments,” shared Ghale.
“Plan only as far as you see, expect the unexpected, and prepare for the worst,” Ghale says, sharing about why he did not pursue his career in engineering despite having a graduate degree from Tribhuvan University and a Master’s in Civil Engineering from the Kharkov Automobile and Highway Institute in the former USSR in 1986 under Nepali government scholarship.
Ghale worked for four years as a highway project engineer at the Department of Transport in Nepal and his life was fulsome. But he quit the job, went to Australia in 1990 to get an MBA and graduated from Victoria University in 1994.
“Life in Australia wasn’t rosy,” Ghale said, remembering the struggles he went through to settle his family there.
After obtaining his permanent residency (PR) in 1995, Ghale, who had a fulltime job in an international educational institute, became jobless after the institute closed down.
“I took this threat as an opportunity and jointly founded the Melbourne Institute of Technology (MIT) a year later with my wife, Jamuna Gurung,” Ghale shares.
MIT is a private higher education provider of degree and postgraduate degree courses in business, engineering, and information technology, and is currently in the process of being a public university.
Though Ghale had to face several challenges due to a decade of decline in the education sector in Australia, he continued to thrive.
Despite the global financial crisis, Ghale invested in real estate in Australia and took it as an opportunity which has paid him back. Currently, he is venturing into opening a Sheraton hotel in Nepal.
Sourced from the Young Entrepreneurs’ Summit–South Asia held in Kathmandu from September 19 to 21.
By Kriti Bhuju
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