Nikhil Kamath is an Indian entrepreneur, businessman and investor. He is best known as the co-founder of ‘Zerodha,’ a financial services company.
Wiki/Biography
Nikhil Kamath was born on Friday, September 5, 1986 (age 36 years; in 2022) in Shimoga, Karnataka. His zodiac sign is Virgo. He attended Oxford Senior High School in JP Nagar, Bangalore, but later, he dropped out of the school after completing class 10.
Nikhil Kamath’s childhood photos with his father and brother
Physical appearance
Height (approx): 5′ 9″
Eye Color: Dark Brown
Hair Color: Black
Family & Caste
He was born into a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Hindu family.
Parents & Siblings
His father, Raghuram Kamath, retired from Canara Bank. His mother, Revathi Kamath, is an environmentalist and Veena player. His brother, Nithin Kamath, is the co-founder of Zerodha Company.
Nikhil Kamath with his father
Nikhil Kamath with his mother and brother
Wife & Children
On 18 April 2019, he married Amanda Puravankara, who works as a director at Provident Housing Ltd in Bangalore, in Florence, Italy.
Nikhil Kamath with his wife
After almost a year of their marriage, the couple divorced.
Relationships/Affairs
Manushi Chhillar
In 2021, he started dating Manushi Chhillar who won the Miss India 2017 title; however, in 2023, reports of their separation surfaced.
Manushi Chhillar with Nikhil Kamath in Rishikesh
Rhea Chakraborty
In 2023, amid reports of his breakup with Manushi Chhillar, there were rumors doing the rounds that Nikhil Kamath had started dating actor Rhea Chakraborty.
Rhea Chakraborty
Career
While in school, he was less interested in learning because he did not understand the practicality of the subject, and the only subject he liked was Mathematics. At the age of 14, he started selling old phones, but his mother asked him to close the business. At the age of 17, he started working in a call center with a salary of Rs. 8000. According to some sources, he also forged a birth certificate as the minimum age requirement for the job is 18 years. He used to work in a call center from 4pm to 1am, and he worked as a stock trader in the morning. It was then that he left his parents’ house and lived with his girlfriend. During an interview, she talked about moving out of her parents’ house, she said,
I learned a lot; when you move out of the ecosystem of family and kinship considerations, you move to the real thing.”
Soon, he learned stock trading skills and started managing his father’s savings. He then convinced his manager at the call center to let him manage his money, and in return, his manager tagged him in with an extra incentive. In 2004, he quit his call center job, and along with his brother, he started stock trading firm Kamath Associates. After almost four years, the two brothers started ‘Zerodha,’ which is a trading platform and is made with the combination of two words ‘Zero’ and ‘Rodha’ (Rodha is the Sanskrit word for barrier).
During the COVID-19 lockdown, Zerodha became India’s largest trading platform as its user base grew by 100% every month. Zerodha’s USP is that for every intra day trade (irrespective of its size) a nominal fee of Rs. 20 is charged. According to 2021 statistics, Zerodha places more than 5 million orders (worth more than $1 billion) every day which is around 15% of India’s daily equity volume.
In 2014, Nikhil and his brother started a hedge fund ‘Rainmatter’ with a capital of Rs. 50 crores to help fund tech startups. They work with the policy that every investment they deal with must be less than 1 million dollars. Some of those investments are Digio, Learnapp, Finception, Smallcase, Sensibull and Quicko. The Kamath brothers started asset management company ‘True Beacon’ in 2019 to invest in the Alternative Investment Fund (AIF) space. In 2020, Zerodha will set up a mutual fund-based AMC.
Controversy
In June 2021, he faced allegations of malpractice while participating in Viswanathan Anand’s simultaneous online chess game against celebrities on 13 June 2021. The event was organized by chess.com. In the event, Kamath was the only one of the nine celebrities who defeated Anand as all the celebrities including actor Aamir Khan, cricketer Yuzvendra Chahal, and singer Arijit Singh had all lost. Later, it was discovered that he defeated Anand using computer assistance after Chess.com closed his account for “violating fair play policy.” Later, Kamath admitted to using the computer’s help and posted an apology note on Twitter.
I got help from people who analyzed the game, computer and Anand sir himself to treat the game as a learning experience. This is for fun and charity. In retrospect, it was kind of silly because I didn’t realize all the confusion this could cause. Apologize…”
Address
Kingfisher Tower, Bangalore
Net worth
In April 2023, Nikhil and his brother Nithin Kamath officially joined the Forbes World’s Billionaires List for 2023. With an estimated net worth of $1.1 billion, Nikhil is ranked 2405 on the list.
Car Collection
- Porsche Boxter S Convertible
Bicycle Collection
Nikhil Kamath with his motorcycle
Watch Collection
- Octa Lune model by FP Journe
- 1990 rose gold Rolex Day-Date model
- Franck Muller Cintrée Curvex model from 1998
- Blancpain Villeret 2018 dress watch
- The DBS model by independent Swiss watchmaker De Bethune
Facts/Trivia
- He traveled a lot in his childhood because his father had a transferable job. Nikhil moved to Bangalore with his family at the age of nine.
- His teachers were disappointed with his academic performance and wanted to punish him by not allowing him to appear in the 10th board examination. He then decided to drop out of school. In an interview, he said,
I don’t have a plan when I quit—the only plan is to make money. I come from a normal, middle-class, Brahmin family– all my cousins are MBAs, PhDs, so questions like, ‘What is he going to do with his life?’ asked.”
- He was a chess champion while in school and participated in various state and national level chess tournaments. In an interview, he said,
Chess teaches you how to work under structure within a system, but try and be creative within that system.”
- He talked about his journey in an interview, he said,
I move on from sulking about what didn’t happen. From being a 14-year-old school dropout to working in a call center, from Zerodha to True Beacon, I have learned 2-3 things that I know how to do well and stick with. And being a millionaire doesn’t change that–I’m still a guy who works 85% of the day and lives with the insecurity of, ‘What if it’s taken away from me?’ So my only advice is to take no chances on this–5 years from now, the things you’re worried about now, won’t be a problem–so why not do what you have to do today and have ‘foolish faith’ that it will it all work out…somehow?”
- His family and friends call him Nik.
- Nikhil follows a non-vegetarian diet.
- He likes to draw and play the guitar in his spare time.
- He has two tattoos inked, one on his left wrist that reads ‘Shalom’ in English and Hebrew, and another on his right arm that reads ‘BE HERE NOW.’
Nikhil Kamath tattoo on his left wrist
Nikhil Kamath tattoo
- He is often seen smoking and drinking alcohol.
- At the age of 34, in 2020, he became one of India’s youngest billionaires.
- In an interview, she talked about her relationship with her brother, she said,
My brother and I have a good relationship, we are more like friends. He is, however, as competitive as a 10-year-old, but in a good way.”
- Nikhil has been featured in various renowned business magazines.
Nikhil Kamath and his brother appeared on the cover of the magazine
- Interviews of Nikhil and his brother Nithin have been published in many business magazines and newspapers.
Nikhil Kamath and his brother interview for a magazine
- He has a collection of more than 500 books, and he is a book lover.
- Nikhil Kamath has a pet dog named Hope.
- According to his interview, Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov is his idol.
- In June 2023, he became part of the Giving Pledge Foundation, which was established by Warren Buffett and Bill Gates in 2010. He committed to contribute a large portion of his wealth to the foundation, making him the fourth Indian leader to join the group. Previous Indian leaders who participated were Azim Premji, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, and Rohini and Nandan Nilekani. After joining the foundation, Nikhil said,
As a young philanthropist, I am writing to express my gratitude for participating in the Giving Pledge. Despite my age, I am committed to making a positive impact on the world and believe that the foundation’s mission to create a more equitable society aligns with my values and aspirations.”
Categories: Biography
Source: SCHOOL TRANG DAI
