Nikhil Kamath
Nikhil Kamath | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | September 5, 1986 Bangalore, Karnataka |
| Occupation | Businessman |
| Organization(s) | Zerodha, True Beacon and Gruhas |
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. Kamath is a part of the 2023 Forbes billionaires list.
Early life and education
Kamath was born on September 5, 1986, in Karnataka, India. Kamath dropped out of school after 10th grade and he has no formal degree.
Career
Early days
Kamath started his career with a job at a call center while also engaging in equity trading on the side. 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.
Zerodha
In 2010, Kamath co-founded Zerodha along with his brother Nithin Kamath. Zerodha provides brokerage services for dealing in stocks, currencies and commodities. Kamath introduced a discount brokerage model with Zerodha which reduces the commission charged for transactions, enabling the masses to invest.
True Beacon
Kamath also co-founded True Beacon In 2020, an asset management company which helps ultra-high net individuals invest in the Indian markets via privately pooled investment vehicles.
Gruhas
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.
Philanthropy
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.
Controversies
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. During the event, Kamath cheated against Anand by using the assistance of chess analysts and engines. Kamath later apologised, calling his behaviour 'quite silly'. Following the match, Chess.com, the virtual platform that was used to play the charity game, decided to ban his account. However, Chess.com restored his account within 24hours with the statement - "Chess.com has no reason to uphold anything given its rules and guidelines toward unrated games and exhibition events".