Nikhil Kamath

For the Indian musician, see Nikhil–Vinay.

Nikhil Kamath
Kamath in 2023
Born	(1986-09-05) 5 September 1986 (age 38) Shimoga, Karnataka, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupations	Entrepreneur Investor
Organization(s)	Zerodha True Beacon Gruhas
Website	Zerodha

Nikhil Kamath (born 5 September 1986)^[1] is an Indian entrepreneur and investor.^[2] He is the co-founder of Zerodha, a retail stockbroker, and True Beacon, an asset management company.^[3][4][5] Kamath is a part of the 2024 Forbes World Billionaires List with a net worth of $3.1 billion.^[6][7] He, along with his brother Nithin, is also part of Forbes' list of India’s 100 Richest for 2024.^[8]

Early life and education

Kamath was born on September 5, 1986, in Shimoga, Karnataka, India. Kamath was brought up in small town of Udupi called Udyavara. Kamath's father, Raghuram Kamath, was an executive at Canara Bank, while his mother, Revathi Kamath, was a skilled veena player.^[9] Kamath dropped out of school after 10th grade and he has no formal degree.^{[3][10][11][12]}

Career

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 brokerage firm with his brother Nithin Kamath titled Kamath & Associates to manage high-net-worth individual portfolios in the public markets.^[3]

In 2010, Kamath co-founded Zerodha along with his brother Nithin Kamath.^[16][17] Zerodha provides brokerage services for dealing in stocks, currencies, and commodities.^[18][19] Kamath introduced a discount brokerage model with Zerodha which reduces the commission charged for transactions, enabling the masses to invest.^[20][21]

Kamath also co-founded True Beacon In 2020, an asset management company that helps ultra-high-net individuals invest in the Indian markets via privately pooled investment vehicles.^{[22][5][23][24]}

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.^[25][26]

In March 2023, Kamath started hosting 'WTF is' podcast. As of April 2024, Kamath has hosted Tanmay Bhat, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Suniel Shetty, Ritesh Agarwal, Ronnie Screwvala and other public figures and entrepreneurs throughout the year.^[27]

In June 2023, He committed to donating 50% of his wealth to charitable causes like climate change, education, and health care by signing The Giving Pledge.^[28]

Nikhil Kamath, along with Ankit Nagori and Prashanth Prakash, owns the Bengaluru franchise for Season 2 of the Global e-Cricket Premier League (GEPL).^[29]

Chess.com charity match

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.^[30][31][32] During the event, Kamath cheated against Anand by using the assistance of chess analysts and engines. Kamath later apologized, calling his behavior 'quite silly'.^[33][34][35] Following the match, Chess.com, the virtual platform that was used to play the charity game, decided to ban his account.^[36] However, Chess.com restored his account within 24 hours with the statement - "Chess.com has no reason to uphold anything given its rules and guidelines toward unrated games and exhibition events".^[37]

References

1. iyer, rahul (2024-10-01). "Who is Nikhil Kamath: The youngest Billionaire in India". Leader Biography. Retrieved 2024-10-04.
2. "Nikhil Kamath's True Beacon doubles down on its PMS product". www.thehindubusinessline.com. 2022-12-26. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
3. Bahree, Megha. "From dropout to fintech disruptor: Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
4. Bharat, Monali. "Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath on Why He Doesn't Have Kids, Focuses on Purpose". Bru Times News.
5. "Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath-backed True Beacon looks at disrupting UHNI wealth management arena". Business Today. 2022-06-15. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
6. "Nikhil Kamath is India's youngest billionaire; Know about his career, education, and net worth. Check out who else is on Forbes' 2024 list". Financialexpress. 2024-04-05. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
7. "Forbes Billionaires 2024". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
8. KARMALI", "NAAZNEEN. "India's 100 Richest 2024". Forbes. Retrieved 2024-10-18.
9. iyer, rahul (2024-10-01). "Who is Nikhil Kamath: The youngest Billionaire in India". Leader Biography. Retrieved 2024-10-04.
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. "The billionaire brokers - Kamath brothers of Zerodha". www.thehindubusinessline.com. 2022-09-09. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
17. "A Watch Collection Focused on Memories and Moments (Published 2021)". 2021-01-14. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
18. "Burned-Out Broker Got Rich Giving Free Trades to Millennials". Bloomberg.com. 2019-05-08. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
19. "Nithin And Nikhil Kamath: Code Zero". Forbes India. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
20. "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.
21. "The Curious Case Study Of Zerodha's Blue Ocean Strategy". Forbes India. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
22. Jain, Aashika (2021-10-01). "In The Hot Seat With Forbes Advisor India: Nikhil Kamath". Forbes Advisor INDIA. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
23. Borate, Neil (2022-09-14). "Nikhil Kamath's True Beacon starts quant-driven PMS". mint. Retrieved 2023-05-30.
24. "Zerodha applies for mutual fund license". The Economic Times. 2020-02-20. ISSN 0013-0389. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
25. "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.
26. "Nikhil Kamath-backed Gruhas Proptech plans to roll out $150 mn fund". Business Today. 2021-12-22. Retrieved 2023-07-16.
27. "Nikhil Kamath's Podcast 'WTF Is' Ranked One Of The Best On Spotify, He Reacts". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2024-04-29.
28. "Nikhil Kamath youngest Indian to sign Giving Pledge". The Times of India. 2023-06-07. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-07-07.
29. Rajput, Gunjan (October 8, 2024). "Zerodha's Nikhil Kamath becomes franchise team owner for... – Details". etnownews.com. Retrieved October 11, 2024.
30. "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.
31. Zafft, Robert. "Liar's Chess: Exposing India's Slumdog Billionaire". Forbes. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
32. Chess Cheating: Vishy Anand, Nikhil Kamath, 14 June 2021, retrieved 2023-07-24
33. "'Apologies': Indian billionaire says he cheated to beat chess champion". South China Morning Post. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
34. "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.
35. "Time to move on: Vishwanathan Anand on Nikhil Kamath's cheating in online chess". The Indian Express. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2023-08-04.
36. "Time to move on: Vishwanathan Anand on Nikhil Kamath's cheating in online chess". The Indian Express. 2021-06-15. Retrieved 2023-07-04.
37. "Nikhil Kamath ban lifted as Anand says 'forgot and forgave'". The Times of India. 2021-06-16. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 2023-09-11.

External links

• Profile at Forbes