Sunny Varkey

Varkey’s parents were Indian expat teachers, who migrated to Dubai in 1959 and founded a small school based in a villa. Today their son controls GEMS Education—the world’s largest operator of K-12 schools, which owns and operates 66 schools and educates over 119,000 students in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe and the U.S. The Varkey Foundation sponsors the global teachers prize—a $1 million award presented annually to a teacher for their contribution to the profession.