Nikhil Kamath

Nikhil Kamath (born 5 September 1986) is an Indian entrepreneur and investor. He is the co-founder of Zerodha, a retail stockbroker, and True Beacon, an asset management company. As of March 2025, Kamath is worth $2.6 billion, according to Forbes. He, along with his brother Nithin, is also part of Forbes' list of India’s 100 Richest for 2024.

Early life and education

Kamath was born on September 5, 1986, in Shimoga and was raised in a locality called Udyavara in Udupi, Karnataka. He was born into a culturally rich Kannada Brahmin household. Kamath's father, Raghuram Kamath, was an executive at Canara Bank, while his mother, Revathi Kamath, had her own event management company that managed major events for HP and Bosch at venues like Leela Palace and Windsor Manor. Her landscaping work flourished as she completed projects for the Chinnaswamy Stadium and corporate clients like Intel, CBRE, and Citadel. She also worked on high-end resorts and hospitals, executing projects worth crores. Revathi was a skilled veena player apart from her professional life. Kamath dropped out of school after 10th grade and he has no formal degree.

Career

Kamath started his career with a job at a call centre while also engaging in equity trading on the side. 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.

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.

Kamath also co-founded True Beacon in 2020, an asset management company that manages investments for ultra-high-net-worth individuals in Indian markets through privately pooled investment vehicles.

In 2021, Kamath co-founded Gruhas, a real estate investment and prop tech company, along with Abhijeet Pai. Gruhas invests in incubators, startups, and special situations through its proptech-focused fund.

In March 2023, Kamath started hosting a podcast entitled "WTF is". As of Jan 2025, Kamath has hosted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tanmay Bhat, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Suniel Shetty, Ritesh Agarwal, Ronnie Screwvala, Bryan Johnson, and other public figures and entrepreneurs throughout the year.

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.

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

Cheating in a chess match

In June 2021, Kamath participated in an online charity chess match against five-time world chess champion, Viswanathan Anand to raise funds in an event organized by Akshaya Patra and All India Chess Federation.

During the event, Nikhil Kamath was found guilty of using fraudulent means to defeat Viswanathan Anand.

The All India Chess Federation (AICF) Secretary Bharat Chauhan said it is "unfortunate" to see unfair methods employed in a charity chess game by Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath against five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.

Following the match, Chess.com, the virtual platform that was used to play the charity game, decided to ban his account.

Danny Rensch, chief chess officer of the Fair Play Team, said in a statement “No account closure is made without hard, statistical evidence as well as a rigorous manual review.”

Kamath later apologized, calling his behavior 'quite silly'. However, his account was restored within 24 hours. The decision followed public comments by Viswanathan Anand, who stated that he had "moved on" from the incident.

Controversies

Buying a house after preaching renting

In October 2024, Kamath purchased his first residential property, which led to backlash on social media due to his prior public advocacy for renting over owning, emphasizing liquidity advantages. People accused him of hypocrisy, describing the move as a “U-turn”.

Promoting alcohol misinformation and health disinformation

Kamath was criticized by hepatologist Dr. Cyriac Abby Philips for his glorification and portrayal of India’s liquor industry positively. Philips noted that Kamath was spreading medically debunked false notions about alcohol consumption.

Citing established medical literature, Dr. Cyriac stated that “no level of alcohol consumption is safe for human health,” describing it as a systemic toxin capable of damaging DNA and contributing to cancer formation.

Philips stated that while narratives of drinking responsibly benefit businesses, they mislead the public and downplay the broader societal impact of alcohol-related harm.

According to Philips, "patients and families struggle to make ends meet for proper healthcare because alcohol use destroyed their life savings. And by the time they find the funds to get things going, the patient is already on the ventilator and in multiple organ failure."

References

External links

Profile
at Forbes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamath, Nikhil
Living people
1986 births
21st-century Indian businesspeople
Indian billionaires
Indian technology company founders
Financial company founders
Indian people in finance
Businesspeople from Karnataka
People from Shimoga
Indian investors