Nikhil Kamath

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Nikhil Kamath
BornSeptember 5, 1986
Bangalore, Karnataka
NationalityIndian
OccupationCo-founder and CIO
OrganizationZerodha, True Beacon and Gruhas
RelativesNithin Kamath, Brother

Nikhil Kamath (born September 5, 1986) is an Indian entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Zerodha, a retail stockbroker and True Beacon, an asset management company.[1][2][3] Kamath is the part of Forbes billionaires list 2023 with a net worth of $1.1 billion and was ranked at 2405.[4][5] He recently became the youngest Indian signatory to The Giving Pledge, an initiative founded by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda French Gates. He committed to donating 50% of his wealth to charitable causes.[6] Kamath was also recently invited to State Dinner hosted by US President Joe Biden for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the White House.[7][8][9]

Early life and education[edit]

Kamath was born on September 5, 1986, in Karnataka, India. Kamath dropped out of school after grade 10th and he has no formal degree.[1][10][11][12]

Career[edit]

Early days[edit]

Kamath started his career with a job at a call center while also engaging in equity trading on the side.[13][14][15]

In 2006, Kamath became a sub-broker and started his own brokerage firm with his brother Nithin Kamath titled Kamath & Associates to manage high net worth individual portfolios in the public markets.[1]

Zerodha[edit]

In 2010, Kamath co-founded Zerodha along with his brother Nithin Kamath.[16][17][18][19] Zerodha provides brokerage services for dealing in stocks, currencies and commodities.[20][21] Kamath introduced a discount brokerage model with Zerodha which reduces the commission charged for transactions, enabling the masses to invest.[22][23] In 2019, Zerodha became the largest stockbroker in India.[24] Currently, Zerodha has 10 million clients.[25][26][27]

True Beacon[edit]

Kamath also co-founded True Beacon In 2020, an asset management company which helps ultra-high net worth individuals invest in the Indian markets via privately-pooled investment vehicles.[28][3][29][30]

Gruhas[edit]

In 2021, Kamath co-founded Gruhas, a real estate investments and prop tech company, along with Abhijeet Pai. Gruhas invests in incubators, startups and special situations through its proptech focused fund.[31][32]

Philanthropy[edit]

In June 2023, Kamath became the youngest Indian signatory to The Giving Pledge, an initiative founded by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda French Gates.[6] He committed to donating 50% of his wealth to charitable causes, including climate change, education, and health care.[33] The other Indians who have signed the Pledge in the past include Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, founder of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and co-founder of Infosys, respectively; Azim Premji, chairperson of Wipro; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon; Anil Agarwal, founder and chairman, Vedanta.[34][35][36][37]

Controversies[edit]

In June 2021, Kamath participated in an online charity chess match against five-time world chess champion, Viswanathan Anand to raise funds for those suffering due to the coronavirus pandemic.[38][39][40] During the event, Kamath had taken the help of chess analysts and computers to get the better of Anand. Kamath later apologised for his misdemeanour.[41][42][43] Following the match, Chess.com, the virtual platform that was used to play the charity game, decided to ban his account.[44]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bahree, Megha. "From dropout to fintech disruptor: Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  2. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath's True Beacon doubles down on its PMS product". www.thehindubusinessline.com. 2022-12-26. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath-backed True Beacon looks at disrupting UHNI wealth management arena". Business Today. 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  4. ↑ "Zerodha Founders Nithin And Nikhil Kamath Are New Entrants In Forbes Billionaires List 2023". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  5. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 "Nikhil Kamath youngest Indian to sign Giving Pledge". The Times of India. 2023-06-07. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  7. ↑ "PM Modi's US State Dinner: Sundar Pichai, Anand Mahindra, Indra Nooyi, Nikhil Kamath among guests; US President Joe Biden cracks joke about alcohol-free menu". The Economic Times. 2023-06-23. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  8. ↑ House, The White (2023-06-22). "White House Releases State Dinner Guest List". The White House. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  9. ↑ "The Full Guest List for Biden's State Dinner With Modi". 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  10. ↑ "How This School Dropout Became India's Youngest Billionaire". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  11. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath Journey: All about Zerodha founder's inspiring journey". Firstpost. 2023-04-26. Retrieved 2023-06-12.
  12. ↑ Schultz, Abby. "Young Billionaire Nikhil Kamath Is Giving Away His Money. Here's Why". www.barrons.com. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  13. ↑ "Who is India's youngest billionaire? How did he make it from zero to 'Zerodha'". Yahoo Finance. 2021-07-20. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  14. ↑ "How billionaire Nikhil Kamath's journey started with a Rs 8,000 a month call centre job". Moneycontrol. 2022-09-07. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  15. ↑ Cruze, Danny Cyril D. (2021-04-10). "From salary of ₹8,000 to a billionaire: Zerodha founder shares his story". mint. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  16. ↑ "Zerodha founder Nikhil Kamath on becoming a self-made billionaire". South China Morning Post. 2022-12-22. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  17. ↑ "The billionaire brokers - Kamath brothers of Zerodha". www.thehindubusinessline.com. 2022-09-09. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  18. ↑ "A Watch Collection Focused on Memories and Moments (Published 2021)". 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  19. ↑ Goldman Sachs Loses Another Top Executive, 2023-08-01, retrieved 2023-08-04
  20. ↑ "Burned-Out Broker Got Rich Giving Free Trades to Millennials". Bloomberg.com. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  21. ↑ "Nithin And Nikhil Kamath: Code Zero". Forbes India. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  22. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath: 'Bust in private equity space imminent… Everybody's valuation is inflated, even ours'". The Indian Express. 2021-05-31. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  23. ↑ "The Curious Case Study Of Zerodha's Blue Ocean Strategy". Forbes India. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  24. ↑ "'Thanks to...': Nithin Kamath shares key reasons behind success of Zerodha". Business Today. 2023-04-19. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  25. ↑ "The Curious Case Study Of Zerodha's Blue Ocean Strategy". Forbes India. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  26. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  27. ↑ "How Zerodha Went from Zero to Hero". www.fortuneindia.com. 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  28. ↑ Jain, Aashika (2021-10-01). "In The Hot Seat With Forbes Advisor India: Nikhil Kamath". Forbes Advisor INDIA. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  29. ↑ Borate, Neil (2022-09-14). "Nikhil Kamath's True Beacon starts quant-driven PMS". mint. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
  30. ↑ "Zerodha applies for mutual fund license". The Economic Times. 2020-02-20. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  31. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath-backed Gruhas Proptech to launch $150 mn proptech focussed fund". The Economic Times. 2021-12-21. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  32. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath-backed Gruhas Proptech plans to roll out $150 mn fund". Business Today. 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
  33. ↑ "Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath to donate 50% of his wealth". The Economic Times. 2023-06-08. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  34. ↑ "Zerodha Co-founder Nikhil Kamath Signs Giving Pledge, Commits To Donate 50% Of His Wealth". Forbes India. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
  35. ↑ "'If you make giving money away cool, a lot more will change in society' says Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath". Financialexpress. 2023-06-22. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  36. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath reveals Bill Gates keeps visiting Bengaluru but 'discreetly'; backs Mark Zuckerberg, says he wouldn't write him off yet". The Economic Times. 2023-03-16. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  37. ↑ "Nikhil Kamath signs Gates-Buffet founded Giving Pledge, to donate 50% of wealth". mint. 2023-06-06. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  38. ↑ "Chess fundraiser | Nikhil Kamath admits using computer in his win against Viswanathan Anand". The Hindu. 2021-06-14. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  39. ↑ Zafft, Robert. "Liar's Chess: Exposing India's Slumdog Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
  40. ↑ Chess Cheating: Vishy Anand, Nikhil Kamath, retrieved 2023-07-24
  41. ↑ "'Apologies': Indian billionaire says he cheated to beat chess champion". South China Morning Post. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  42. ↑ "Billionaire Nikhil Kamath apologises for taking help from 'people analysing the game, computers' to win charity chess match opposite Vishy". The Economic Times. 2021-06-15. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
  43. ↑ "Time to move on: Vishwanathan Anand on Nikhil Kamath's cheating in online chess". The Indian Express. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
  44. ↑ "Time to move on: Vishwanathan Anand on Nikhil Kamath's cheating in online chess". The Indian Express. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2023-07-04.

External links[edit]

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