Nikhil Kamath: Facts About India’s Youngest Billionaire!

Nikhil Kamath is an Indian serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Zerodha, India’s biggest stock broking firm. He is also the co-founder of True Beacon, an asset management company.

With a wealth of $1.1 billion, Nikhil made it to the Forbes 2023 Billionaires list with a ranking of 1104. He was also one of the distinguished guests to be invited to the state dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden in honor of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 23rd January 2023.

Physical Stats

Nikhil Kamath Family

Nikhil Kamath’s father Raghuram Kamath worked as an executive with Canara Bank and his mother Revathi is a Veena player. Nikhil also has an elder brother Nithin Kamath, who is the co-founder and CEO of Zerodha. 

Relationships

On April 18, 2019, Nikhil got married to Amanda Puravankara in Florence, Italy. It was a private function with only family members and close friends in attendance. However, within a year of getting married, Nikhil parted ways with Amanda, and their divorce was finalized in 2021.

Since 2021, Nikhil is reportedly in a relationship with Miss World 2017 Manushi Chhillar. The couple were spotted together on a couple of occasions including at Rishikesh and also at the FIFA world cup match held in Qatar in December 2022. However, Nikhil and Manushi have remained tight-lipped about their relationship.

Education

Nikhil studied at Oxford Senior Secondary School in JP Nagar, Bangalore. During his school days, Nikhil was not interested in academics and as a result, the school authorities did not allow him to appear for the class 10th Board exam. Subsequently, Nikhil dropped out of school. 

Controversies

In June 2021, an online chess match was held as part of the Checkmate Covid program, a charity event. In one of the matches, Nikhil beat former world chess champion Viswanathan Anand. However, later it was found that Nikhil took the help of chess analysts and computers to beat his opponent.

Following the incident, Nikhil’s Chess.com account was banned after the match. It led to a severe outlash on social media and Nikhil soon apologized for his mistake on his Twitter handle. According to the entrepreneur, he didn’t realize that his move could lead to such a big confusion.

Nikhil Kamath Profession

When Nikhil was 14 years of age, he along with his friend Tejapal started the business of buying and selling used phones. Later, after being dropped out of school, Nikhil got a job in a call center at a monthly salary of Rs.8,000. During that time, he used to do a 4 PM to 1 AM shift at the call center.

In the mornings, Nikhil used to do stock trading and by the time he turned 18, he became an active trader. Subsequently, his dad gave him some of his savings and asked him to manage it. Soon, Nikhil was able to convince his manager at the call center, and he also started managing his money. Since it turned out well for his manager, slowly word of mouth spread and Nikhil started managing many of his colleagues’ money. With the turn of events, Nikhil left his job at the call center to start his venture.

In January 2004, Nikhil Kamath co-founded ‘Kamath Associates, along with his elder brother Nithin. The firm was in the advisory business and the brothers ran the establishment till July 2010.

With the savings they accumulated from their earlier business, Nikhil and Nithin launched Zerodha, a stock broking firm in August 2010. The most beautiful part of Zerodha’s trading application is that they charge only a nominal amount as a trading fee. By December 2018, Zerodha emerged to be the biggest stock broker in the country with a whopping 8.47 lakh active clients. In 2023, the firm recorded a profit of Rs. 2094 crore and Nikhil’s current salary stands at Rs.100 crore.

In August 2019, Nikhil went on to co-found ‘True Beacon’, his third venture. The firm’s other co-founders include Richard Pattle and Abhijeet Pai. True Beacon is an asset management company that provides wealth management services for ultra-high-net-worth individuals.

The other firms co-founded by Nikhil include Gruhas – a venture capital fund, Rainmatter- the fintech fund and incubator, and Rainmatter Foundation – a non-profit organization that provides support for climate action projects. 

Some of the prestigious honors received by Nikhil include being listed in Forbes India’s ‘30 Under 30’ Young Entrepreneurs in 2016. He was also featured in Forbes India’s inaugural ‘Tycoons Of Tomorrow’ list in 2018.

The other achievements to his credit include being listed on IIFL Wealth and Hurun India’s 40 & Under Self-Made Rich List in 2020. The entrepreneur also holds the distinction of becoming the youngest individual to be featured in the Edelgive Hurun India Philanthropy List in 2022.

In June 2023, Nikhil became the youngest Indian to join the ‘The Giving Pledge’ as he decided to donate the majority of his wealth to charitable causes.

Nikhil Kamath Net worth

As per Forbes, Nikhil’s net worth as of 2023 stands at $3.45 billion.

Lesser Known Facts About Nikhil Kamath

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