Sant Singh Chatwal is an Indian-American businessman, owner of the Bombay Palace chain of restaurants and Hampshire Hotels & Resorts. He was born in 1946 in Punjab. In his career, Sant Chatwal struggled a lot; he first migrated to Ethiopia where he worked hard and ran two restaurants serving Indian cuisine, a step which became crucial to Sant Singh Chatwal net worth. Later, he moved to New York and opened first Bombay restaurant, and went on to expand his hotel empire, which now comprises of chain of Hampshire Hotels & Resorts and the recently opened The Chatwal New York which augmented Sant Singh Chatwal net worth. Chatwal is a Trustee of the William J. Clinton Foundation, a Charitable foundation organized by President Clinton focusing on global issues of health security, economic empowerment. He was the only Indian from the United States who was honored by the Govt. of Punjab (India) in April 1999 with the "Order of Khalsa" for his outstanding service to the community. Chatwal has devoted resources to worthy political causes, working very closely with the Democratic Party, in particular with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Senator John Kerry, Senator Charles Schumer, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi and Congressman Joseph Crowley. Chatwal was awarded the Padma Bhushan by Indian President Pratibha Patil on January 26, 2010. This led to a public controversy based on allegations of malfeasance leveled against Chatwal. The Government of India has since upheld its award decision. In November 2013, The Economic Times named Chatwal the 19th most powerful, influential and contemporary Sikh in the world.