Zerodha's Nithin and Nikhil Kamath debut on Forbes India Rich List; Byju, Sridhar Vembu gain wealth
November 10, 2020, Updated on : Thu Apr 08 2021 09:17:00 GMT+0000
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Discount brokerage startup has seen record account openings during this lockdown. Like most online businesses, the fintech unicorn has benefited from the pandemic, leading to wealth gains for its co-founders Nithin and Nikhil Kamath.
The duo debuted on the Forbes India Rich List 2020 at No. 90, with a cumulative fortune of $1.55 billion. They are among the nine new entrants to the list, which is an annual ranking of the 100 richest Indians.
InfoEdge (India) founder Sanjeev Bikhchandani is a debutant too at No. 69 with a net worth of $2.1 billion. InfoEdge runs popular websites like Naukri.com, 99acres.com, and JeevanSaathi.com.
Other notable startup founders in the list are co-founders Byju Raveendran and Divya Gokulnath ranked 46th with a net worth of $3.05 billion; founder Sridhar Vembu (& Siblings) ranked 59th with a of $2.44 billion; and founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma ranked 62nd with his wealth standing at $2.35 billion.
While Byju and Vembu gained in riches this year, VSS's rank on the list remained unchanged. "Two distinct themes emerge from a cursory glance at the rich list: digital and health. Online business models that helped consumers pivot into the virtual world comprise one set of the big gainers," Forbes India stated.
Image Courtesy: Forbes India
Ambani richest, and biggest gainer
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani emerged as the richest Indian for the 13th year in a row. Forbes India revealed that half of the total gains for the 100 richest Indians in 2020 "can be ascribed to one individual: Mukesh Ambani".
Ambani's fortune swelled by 73 percent to reach $88.7 billion riding on a stunning 14-round fund-raise by Reliance's digital arm Jio Platforms that sent company stock soaring. That was followed by a similar serial capital infusion in Reliance Retail too.
Ambani was succeeded by infrastructure billionaire Gautam Adani, whose net worth shot up by 61 percent to $25.2 billion. HCL Chairman Shiv Nadar was ranked third on the list, with a fortune of $20.4 billion as shares of India’s third-largest IT firm surged.
Others in the top 10 included Radhakishan Damani ($15.4 billion), Hinduja Brothers ($12.8 billion), Cyrus Poonawalla ($11.5 billion), Pallonji Mistry ($11.4 billion), Uday Kotak ($11.3 billion), Godrej Family ($11 billion), and Lakshmi Mittal ($10 billion).
The biggest percentage gainer on this year's list was Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, whose wealth nearly doubled to $4.6 billion riding on her biotech firm's potential COVID-19 drug. She is also the richest woman on the list at No. 27.
Interestingly, Wipro Founder-Chairman Azim Premji — a regular in the top 10 — dropped to 15th with a net worth of $7.9 billion. This is because Premji has invested chunks of his wealth to charity, topping the list of India's philanthropists.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta
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