Bangalore, India's popular IT hub, shelters numerous affluent entrepreneurs with flourishing businesses. Among them are numerous renowned people, including Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Azim Premji of Wipro, and N R Narayana Murty of Infosys, who have staggering net worth.
However, neither of the three are the richest in the city. They are outshined by a lesser-known billionaire Arjun Menda who is the richest person in Bengaluru. Founder of a Bengaluru-based privately owned real estate company -RMZ Corp, Arjun Menda entered the 360 ONE Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2023 with a whopping net worth of Rs 37,000 crore.
Early Beginnings
Even though Menda is extremely wealthy now, he had humble beginnings and battled numerous odds to create his multibillion-dollar empire. Born in 1933 in Shikarpur, Sindh, which is now part of Pakistan, Menda's life was shaken by the partition of India and Pakistan. His family had to abandon the resources they had built over the years, migrate to India, and seek refuge in Chennai. Despite financial constraints, Menda's father ensured that his children attained education. Menda went on to study at the prestigious IIT Kharagpur with a scholarship.
Upon graduating with a degree in Production Technology, Menda began his professional career as an industrial engineer at Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, and then worked as Production Manager at Gabriel India Limited in 1967. Later, changed his life course and entered the real estate market in the 1980s.
Founded his company- RMZ Corp
In 2002, he went on to establish RMZ Corp. The business is now managed by his two sons, Raj and Manoj Menda, while he is serving as group chairman. His company is presently among the top builders of corporate offices in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, and other software hubs.
Philanthropic activities
Having battled various challenges early in his life which comes from belonging to a less privileged family, Menda founded the Menda Foundation in 1990, which grants roughly 700 scholarships each year.
His company also provides an Adult Literacy Program in rural areas, aimed at teaching alphabets and arithmetic to adults.
