Meet Nikhil Kamath, a school dropout at 14, now India's youngest billionaire at 34

Due to low attendance in school, Nikhil was stopped from appearing for board exams after which he dropped out of school at the age of 14. Not only were his parents upset from this decision, even Nikhil was unsure with what to do in life. 

“Back when I quit and I watched my classmates progress into college and into various professions, while I was still trying to figure out what my path should be on my own, it was a bit unnerving, both for me and my parents and my family I’m sure,” he told Arabian Business.

Over time, I just wasn’t keen on a formal education, said the young business who since a very young age was keen of Chess and spent hours playing it. He was introduced to the sport at age five and even mastered it to become a professional. He competed against the country’s well known players.

After dropping out of school, Nikhil starting working at a call centre for Rs 8000 a month. Since he was just aged 17 then, he had to get a fake birth certificate, Nikhil told Official Humans of Bombay.

"No one was going to hire me without a college degree, which meant I had to do something which didn't require one," Mr Kamath told CNBC 

At 14, Nikhil started a business with his friend where they bought & sold used phones. But soon his mother found out and flushed the phones down the toilet. At the age of 18, Nikhil started trading stocks and that’s where his life changed.

“Dad gave me some of his savings & said, ‘Manage it.’ He just had blind faith,” he said.

In 2010, Nikhil and his brother Nitin co-founded Zerodha, a company which aims to break barrier that traders and investors face in India in terms of cost, support and technology. Zerodha is the amalgamation of ‘zero’ and ‘rodha’, the Sankrit word for barrier.

Nikhil is also the founder of True Beacon, a hedge fund, which aims to be an ecosystem of proprietary investment products, portfolio management & advisory, capital markets services and tailored programs for strategic investors, says the company’s bio.

Nikhil says that from being a school dropout, to working at a call center and to starting Zerodha & True Beacon, he has figured out two-three tings and has stuck with them.

“Becoming a billionaire doesn’t change that–I still work 85% of the day & live with the insecurity of, ‘What if it’s taken from me?’” he told Official humans of Bombay.

From seeing the worst to living the best Nikhil advises youngsters to have have faith in themselves.

“My only advice is to not sweat about this stuff–5 years later, the things you’re worrying about now, won’t matter–so why not do what you have to today & have ‘stupid faith’ that it’ll work out…somehow?” He said.

(All photos: Facebook/Nikhil Kamath)