Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath is comfortably perched at the top in the recently released IIFL Wealth Hurun India 40 and under Self-Made Rich List 2022. With a net worth of Rs 17,500 crore, the school dropout turned billionaire is far ahead of the pack with Rs 5,800 crore more than Ola Electric’s Bhavish Aggarwal who is at the second place with Rs 11,700 crore net worth.
Nikhil Kamath became the youngest Indian billionaire at the age of just 34 in 2021. His story is one that inspires millions of youngsters to believe in big dreams and have the fortitude to accomplish them.
.
Who is Nikhil Kamath?
The astute billionaire investor dropped out of school at just 14 years old because he wasn’t allowed to appear for board exams due to low attendance. This upset his parents and Nikhil had no idea what to do with life, finding the times a bit “unnerving”.
Nikhil began his career at a call centre with a meagre pay of Rs 8,000. He was 17 when he got the job. Not an adult at the time, Nikhil reportedly had to get a fake birth certificate.
While he wasn’t keen on formal education, Nikhil Kamath was into the game of chess and spent hours polishing his skills. In fact, he even played professionally, testing his brain against some of the best players in the country.
While there was no college degree to support him in his career, Nikhil knew that he had to do something that did not need one. His first business venture was buying and selling used phones at the age of 14, but the business met a sudden end after his mother found out about it.
He began trading in stocks at the age of 18, which became a turning point in his life. In 2010, Nikhil and his brother Nitin Kamath founded Zerodha as a platform which helps traders and investors overcome hurdles of cost, support and technology. In fact, his company’s name also signifies this - ‘zero’ with the Sanskrit word for barrier ‘rodha’. He has also founded a hedge fund called True Beacon. At 34, Nikhil became India’s youngest billionaire.
READ | Meet Ravi Modi, India’s biggest wealth gainer in 2022 rich list who is now worth Rs 32,400 crore
