10 Self Made Billionaires In India With Highest Net Worth
- Gautam Adani is the richest self made billionaire in India whose net worth is around $150 billion
- Airtel founder Sunil Bharti Mittal and Wipro founder Azim Premji are self made billionaires too
We often hear the name of Mukesh Ambani who used to be the richest man in India. Then comes Ratan Tata from the Tata family who is a prominent figure in India’s corporate sector. Kumar Mangalam Birla too is an Indian billionaire known for the Aditya Birla Group. What they all have in common? They succeeded their previous generations to handle their family businesses. Here we’ll take a look at the self made billionaires in India who started from zero and went to the top.
Gautam Adani
Born on 24 June 1962 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Gautam Adani is the richest self made billionaire in India. His net worth is over $150 billion and this takes him to the list the top 5 richest person in the world.
Gautam Adani’s father Shantilal Adani and mother Shantaben Adani has 7 siblings. His father used to run his textile business but Gautam Adani was not interested in it.
| Name | Gautam Adani |
| Net Worth | $150 billion+ |
| Born | 24 June 1962 |
| Business | Adani Group |
| Revenue | $20 billion |
Gautam Adani got first business opportunity from his brother Mahasukhbhai Adani who bought a plastic factory in Ahmedabad in 1981. To manage this plastic factory Gautam Adani was invited. By 1985 operations were good enough to establish the Adani Enterprises in 1988.
It is the holding company of the Adani Group. Today the Adani Group is one of the most valuable conglomerates in India. Its annual revenue is $20 billion and has presence in over 50 countries.
Sunil Bharti Mittal
Known for India’s leading telecom company Airtel, Sunil Bharti Mittal was born on 23 October 1957. He founded Bharti Enterprises of which Airtel is the flagship company. The net worth of Sunil Bharti Mittal is over $14 billion.
Sat Paul Mittal was his father and Ludhiana, Punjab is the birthplace of Sunil Bharti Mittal. For his impeccable achievements Government of India gave him Padma Bhusan in 2007. At age of 18, Sunil Bharti Mittal started his first investment with ₹20,000 borrowed from his father.
| Name | Sunil Bharti Mittal |
| Net Worth | $14 billion+ |
| Born | 23 October 1957 |
| Business | Bharti Enterprises |
| Revenue | $15 billion (2022) |
He used to make bicycle parts for a local manufacturer. Later he sold the company and went into export industry with the Bharti Overseas Trading Company in 1980. In 1984, he started assembling push button phones and soon the Bharti Telecom Limited was incorporated.
In 1992, Sunil Bharti Mittal won a bid for one mobile network license and then he never looked back. In 1997 Airtel brand started and within a few years it crossed 2 million mobile users. Today Airtel generates a revenue of $15 billion annually and Bharti Enterprise owns 35.85% stake in it.
Shiv Nadar
Born on 14 July 1945, Shiv Nadar is known for HCL Tech. He founded HCL Tech in 1976 and it is one of the leading IT companies in India. For his efforts in IT industry the Government of India gave him Padma Bhusan in 2008. His net worth is over $23 billion.
Sivasubramaniya Nadar and Vamasundari Devi were the parents of Shiv Nadar. His birthplace is Tamil Nadu. In 1976 with initial investment of ₹1,87,000 Shiv Nadar founded HCL Tech with his colleagues. The main business of the company was to sell IT hardware.
| Name | Shiv Nadar |
| Net Worth | $23 billion+ |
| Born | 14 July 1945 |
| Business | HCL Tech |
| Revenue | $11 billion (2022) |
In July 2020, by succeeding Shiv Nadar his daughter Roshni Nadar became the chairperson of HCL Tech. It was first for any listed IT company that a woman became its chairperson. As a managing director C Vijay Kumar succeed Shiv Nadar in July 2021.
C Vijay Kumar is India’s highest paid IT CEO with a total remuneration of ₹123 crore in 2021. HCL Tech annual revenue in $11 billion while net income of the company is $1.4 billion in 2021. The company has its operation in over 50 countries.
Read More – Largest IT Companies In India And Their CEO Salary
Azim Premji
One of the richest self made billionaires in India is Azim Premji. His net worth is over $32 billion that came from Wipro which is one of the India’s leading IT company. Azim Premji took charge of Wipro in 1966 after returning from Stanford University and his father death. Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd was the earlier name of Wipro.
| Name | Azim Hashim Premji |
| Net Worth | $32 billion |
| Born | 24 July 1945 |
| Business | Wipro |
| Revenue | $10 billion (2022) |
Azim Premji’s father Muhammed Hashim Premji incorporated the Western Indian Vegetable Products Ltd in 1945. The Indian IT sector was at its initial stages and this caught the attention of Azim Premji. So he changed the company name to Wipro in 1980s to focus on IT sector.
Today Wipro generates a revenue of close to $10 billion every year. Most of its revenue comes from the IT sector while the company also has presence in personal care, health care and lightning products. It is Azim Premji who transformed Wipro from soap to software. Wipro has presence in over 60 countries.
Uday Kotak
Known for founding the Kotak Mahindra Bank, Uday Kotak is India’s richest banker. In 1985, Uday Kotak started Kotak Capital Investments with an initial capital of ₹30 lakh. One year later, Mahindra family invested ₹1 lakh and so it got a name Kotak Mahindra Finance.
| Name | Uday Kotak |
| Net Worth | $14 billion+ |
| Born | 15 March 1959 |
| Business | Kotak Mahindra Bank |
| Revenue | $7.4 billion (2022) |
In 2003, Kotak Mahindra Finance got a banking license from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). So the name was changed to the Kotak Mahindra Bank. Uday Kotak alone used to hold 56% stakes at that time while Anand Mahindra held 5%. With time Uday Kotak has reduced its stake and now it stands at 30%.
Kotak Mahindra Bank today generates a revenue of more than $7 billion annually. Net income stands at $1.4 billion and over 71,000 employees work under this organisation. It has more than 1,200 branches across India.
Radhakishan Damani
Known as the founder of DMart, Radhakishan Damani net worth is over $16.5 billion. Apart from being a business magnate he is also an investor. Damani manages his investments via Bright Star Investments Limited. He was born in Bikaner, Rajasthan. In the list of self made billionaires in India Damani is a prominent figure.
Damani’s father was a Dalal Street worker and after his death he also did the same. During Harshad Mehta Scam he saw a big boost in his earnings by short-selling. It was the year 2000 when Damani left the stock market and started his hypermarket store DMart.
| Name | Radhakishan Damani |
| Net Worth | $16 billion+ |
| Born | 12 July 1955 |
| Business | DMart |
| Revenue | $3.9 billion (2022) |
DMart went public in 2017 and currently has 234 stores across India. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was his friend and Damani taught him his stock trading techniques. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was itself a billionaire with net worth of over $5.8 billion.
Today DMart stores are present in 72 cities across 11 states. In FY22, DMart revenue stood at $3.9 billion while net income of the company stood at $190 million. Radhakishan Damani alone holds more than 65% stakes in DMart.
Dilip Shanghvi
One of the richest self made billionaires in India is Dilip Shanghvi. He is the founder of Sun Pharma which is India’s largest pharmaceutical company. His net worth is over $14 billion. Due to his remarkable contribution in the pharma industry Government of India gave him Padma Shri in 2016.
Read More – Largest Pharma Companies In India And Their CMD Salary
Shanghvi was born in Gujarat on 1 october 1955. His father was a medicine dealer with deal in mainly generic drugs in Kolkata. Instead of selling drugs, Dilip Shanghvi was interested in manufacturing of drugs. So with an initial investment of ₹10,000 he set up its first manufacturing unit.
| Name | Dilip Shanghvi |
| Net Worth | $14 billion+ |
| Born | 1 October 1955 |
| Business | Sun Pharma |
| Revenue | $5 billion |
The business soon gained pace and by 2014 it became the largest pharma company in India. In 2014, Sun Pharma acquired the business of Ranbaxy. It is interesting to note that 70% of the company’s revenue comes from exports. USA is a major export market of the Sun Pharma.
In FY22, Sun Pharma reported a revenue of $5 billion. The net income of the company stood at $430 million. Dilip Shanghvi alone holds more than 55% stakes in Sun Pharma and gets huge dividends from it.
Binny Bansal
Known as the co-founder of Flipkart, Binny Bansal net worth is over $1.3 billion. In 2007, Binny Bansal co-founded the Flipkart with Sachin Bansal who is also a self made billionaire and a serial entrepreneur. It is to be noted that there is no relation between both of them.
| Name | Binny Bansal |
| Net Worth | $1.3+ billion |
| Born | 1982-1983 |
| Business | Flipkart (Former) Anchor Investor (Present) |
| Revenue | ————– |
Flipkart became so successful that it went to rival the global e-commerce giant Amazon of USA. This caught the attention of yet another USA giant Walmart. So in 2018 Walmart purchased 77% stakes in Flipkart for $16 billion. This was the largest ever acquisition in the Indian startup world.
As a co-founder Binny Bansal used to hold 5.5% stake in Flipkart. After valuation his 5.5% stake is alone valued at 1 billion. Soon after the acquisition Binny Bansal left Flipkart and became an ancor investor. He is a investor in Ola Electric which aims to revolutionise the electric vehicle world.
Sachin Bansal
Another co-founder of Flipkart was Sachin Bansal. When Walmart acquired Flipkart in 2018 Sachin Bansal immediately left the company. Sachin Bansal was CEO and Chairman of Flipkart. He also holds 5.5 stake in Flipkart which was valued at over $1 billion. Following his exit he sold his stakes in Flipkart too.
| Name | Sachin Bansal |
| Net Worth | $1.5 billion |
| Born | 5 August 1981 |
| Business | Flipkart (Former) Navi Technologies (Present) |
| Revenue | ₹779 crore (FY21 Navi Technologies) |
After Flipkart, Sachin Bansal founded the Navi Technologies. It is a financial service company that soon aims to go public. Like his friend Binny Bansal Sachin Bansal too is an investor. He had invested in some leading startups of India which includes Unacademy, Ather Energy and Ola Cabs. In Navi Technologies Sachin Bansal holds more than 95% stakes.
Nsvi Technologies plans to go public in 2023. The company reported a revenue of ₹779 crore in FY21. A year ago the revenue of Navi Technologies was at just ₹199 crore. With revenue profits too jumped from ₹8.07 crore in FY20 to ₹71.2 crore in FY21.
Kamath Brothers
Which is the best stock trading app in India? It is Zerodha founded by the Kamath Brothers (Nikhil Kamath and Nitin Kamath). Elder brother Nitin Kamath saw an opportunity to bring stock trading to mobile apps and so Zerodha was started. Soon his brother Nikhil Kamath too joined Zerodha. Today net worth of both stands at $1.5 billion.
| Name | Nikhil Kamath / Nitin Kamath |
| Net Worth | $1.5 billion / $1.5 billion |
| Born | 5 September 1987 / 5 October 1979 |
| Business | Zerodha |
| Revenue | ₹2,729 crore (2022) |
Zerodha is totally bootstrapped startup and haven’t raised any funding since inception. It is one of the few profitable trading apps in India and its profit margin is mind blowing. In FY21, Zerodha revenue jumped to ₹2,729 crore from ₹938 crore a year ago. At the same time profits were at ₹1,122 crore in FY21 with huge 166% growth as compared to ₹424 crore in FY20.
This makes Zerodha one of the most successful and few profitable startups in India. Nikhil Kamath and Nitin Kamath both took ₹100 crore as a salary in FY21. This is the highest pay for any startup founder in India. There are many trading apps in India but Zerodha continues to grow at a rapid pace while other struggle even to be profitable.
Self Made Billionaires In India & Their Net Worth
| Name | Net Worth |
| Gautam Adani | $150 billion+ |
| Sunil Bharti Mittal | $14 billion+ |
| Shiv Nadar | $23 billion+ |
| Azim Hashim Premji | $32 billion+ |
| Uday Kotak | $14 billion+ |
| Radhakishan Damani | $16 billion+ |
| Dilip Shanghvi | $14 billion+ |
| Binny Bansal | $1.3 billion+ |
| Sachin Bansal | $1.5 billion+ |
| Kamath Brothers | $1.5 billion+ |
So These Were 10 Self Made Billionaires In India.
