Abraham George, Entrepreneur and Finance Expert
Abraham George, entrepreneur and founder of Shanti Bhavan, built Multinational Computer Models, Inc. (MCM), a New Jersey software company that helped multinational corporations manage currency and interest-rate risk. SunGard acquired MCM in 1998. A former Indian Army officer with a PhD from New York University, he used the proceeds of his business career to fund The George Foundation and Shanti Bhavan, the school he opened in India in 1997.
Abraham George, entrepreneur: key facts
- Full name: Abraham M. George
- Education: graduate study in Alabama, then an MBA (1973) and PhD (1975) from New York University
- Banking: Chemical Bank's international division, from 1975
- Company: Multinational Computer Models, Inc., started in the 1970s in Montclair, New Jersey
- Partnership: joint venture with First Boston in international financial risk management, proposed in 1990
- Exit: MCM acquired by SunGard in 1998
- Finance books: three, published in 1978, 1983 and 1996
- Current role: Founder and CEO of Shanti Bhavan
How did Abraham George get into finance?
Abraham George began his career in the military. He entered India's National Defence Academy at 14 and served as an Indian Army artillery officer, rising to Captain. A hearing condition ended his service, and in 1968 he joined his mother in Alabama.
He studied in Alabama and then enrolled at New York University's Graduate School of Business Administration, now the Stern School of Business. He earned an MBA in 1973 and a PhD in 1975. According to a 2006 profile in STERNbusiness, NYU Stern's magazine, his dissertation examined the benefits of a managed foreign exchange rate system.
He paid his rent partly by teaching at nearby colleges. By his own account, he was about to accept an associate professorship at Syracuse University when a bank offered him a job instead.
The offer came from Chemical Bank, now part of JPMorgan Chase. Abraham George joined its international division in 1975 and stayed for about two and a half years.
How did Abraham George start MCM?
While at Chemical Bank, George spent his spare time on a software application for currency risk management. He eventually left the bank and formed a company to make the product. That company, Multinational Computer Models, Inc., started in the basement of his house in Montclair, New Jersey, in the 1970s.
The early years at MCM meant long hours. "During the early days in the company I had founded (MCM), we worked late into the night and on weekends with tremendous enthusiasm," he told Authority Magazine in 2022.
Software for currency and interest-rate risk
MCM sold software and consulting to multinational corporations and financial institutions, covering foreign exchange exposure, interest-rate exposure and treasury management. Trademarks the company filed between 1985 and the early 1990s include MATREX, ENFORM, TRADEX and INTREX, the last filed for software that analyzes interest rate exposures.
George has described MCM as "a market leader in international treasury applications," and, according to STERNbusiness, Fortune 500 companies were among its customers. By 1990 the company had offices in New York, New Jersey and London. George has said the team grew from four or five people to about 150, with an office at the World Trade Center.
The First Boston joint venture
In 1990, First Boston approached George about creating a joint venture in international financial risk management. He also served as a managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston.
When did SunGard acquire MCM?
SunGard Data Systems acquired MCM in 1998. A trade report from that September said SunGard's treasury business had been formed from the merger of ADS Associates Inc. and Multinational Computer Models Inc. The STERNbusiness profile described the price only as "a seven-figure sum."
After the sale, Abraham George served as a vice chairman at SunGard for about two years. He left SunGard in 2000. The sale closed Abraham George's run as an entrepreneur in financial software, and in all he spent nearly 25 years in technology and international finance.
What finance books has Abraham George written?
Abraham George wrote or edited three books on international corporate finance.
Foreign Exchange Management and the Multinational Corporation: A Manager's Guide (Praeger, 1978) was his first book, which he wrote on his own. Its subject was the same problem his software addressed.
International Finance Handbook (John Wiley & Sons, 1983) is a two-volume reference he co-edited with finance professor Ian H. Giddy, who taught at NYU's Stern School of Business.
Protecting Shareholder Value: A Guide to Managing Financial Market Risk (Irwin Professional Publishing, 1996) followed nearly two decades later. By then MCM had spent years building tools for exactly that kind of risk management.
He has since written books on his social work, including the 2026 memoir Mountains to Cross: Finding Life's Purpose in Service.
How did business discipline shape his nonprofit work?
Abraham George, entrepreneur turned philanthropist, returned to India in 1995 and set up The George Foundation in Bangalore. He made the move three years before MCM's sale. He explained the timing to STERNbusiness: "If I waited too long, I'd probably make a lot more money but wouldn't have the mental and physical energy that I'd need."
He put the same idea in investment terms when speaking to Global Indian in 2025: "I could have kept making money, but I knew I had to stop at some point. I needed to use what I had earned and invest in social ventures before it was too late."
He funded the work himself: the foundation says he sought no outside funding for his projects during its first ten years. In 1997 he opened Shanti Bhavan, a boarding school for children from India's lowest socioeconomic class.
The school follows the logic of a long-term investment. It supports each child from about age four through college, with the expectation that graduates will in turn support their families and communities.
NYU Stern named him its Stewart Satter Social Entrepreneur of the Year in 2007, saying he had "creatively and imaginatively applied the entrepreneurial skills gained from a successful career in software and financial services to raise scores of people out of poverty." When he accepted the award, NYU Stern reported, he described "the creation of jobs and opportunities to make money in an ethical way" as the only real path to that goal.
FAQ
What company did Abraham George found?
As an entrepreneur, Abraham George founded Multinational Computer Models, Inc. (MCM) in the 1970s in the basement of his home in Montclair, New Jersey. MCM made software that helped multinational corporations and financial institutions manage foreign exchange and interest-rate risk.
Who bought Abraham George's company?
SunGard Data Systems acquired MCM in 1998, merging it into its treasury business. Abraham George then served as a vice chairman at SunGard for about two years before leaving the company in 2000.
Did Abraham George work at Credit Suisse First Boston?
Yes. In 1990, First Boston approached Abraham George about a joint venture in international financial risk management. Abraham George also served as a managing director at Credit Suisse First Boston.
Where did Abraham George get his PhD?
Abraham George earned his PhD in 1975 from New York University's Graduate School of Business Administration, now the Stern School of Business, after completing an MBA there in 1973. His dissertation examined the benefits of a managed foreign exchange rate system.
What does Abraham George do now?
Abraham George is Founder and CEO of Shanti Bhavan, the school he opened in 1997. In January 2026 he published his memoir, Mountains to Cross, and all author proceeds from the book support Shanti Bhavan Children's Project.