Nithin Kamath is an Indian entrepreneur, stockbroker and investor. He is the co-founder and CEO of Indian financial services company “Zerodha”.
Wiki/Biography
Nithin Kamath was born on Friday, October 5, 1979 (43 years old; as of 2022) in Shimoga, Karnataka. His star sign is Libra. He studied engineering at the Bangalore Institute of Technology, Bangalore, Karnataka.
Nithin Kamath during his school days
appearance
Height (approximate): 5′ 11″
Eye color: Black
Hair color: Black
Family and caste
He was born into a Gaud Saraswat Brahmin Hindu family.
Parents and siblings
His father Raghuram Kamath is a retired employee of Canara Bank, his mother Revathi Kamath is an environmentalist and a veena player, and his younger brother Nikhil Kamath is the co-founder of Zerodha.
Nithin Kamath’s father and brother
Nithin Kamath with his mother and brothers
Wife and children
He married Seema Patil, a quality manager at Zerodha, in 2008. They have a son, Kiaan.
Nithin Kamath and his wife
Nithin Kamath and his son
In March 2022, he revealed that his wife was diagnosed with breast cancer. Nithin also shaved his head to show his support and stayed by her side while she underwent treatment.
Nithin Kamath shared a photo with his wife after she was diagnosed with breast cancer
Relationship/affair
Nithin Kamath dated Seema Patil before marrying her in 2008. The two met in 2001 at a call centre and started dating soon after. Then Seema joined Singapore Airlines and they began a long-distance relationship that lasted for 4 years.
Profession
He started working as a self-employed proprietary trader in Bengaluru in January 1997 while pursuing his degree. He also worked as a senior telesales executive at Manipal Infocom in Bengaluru. From 2001 to 2005, Nithin worked in the call centre of Canara Bank. In 2004, Nithin started Kamath Associates and nearly 11 years later, he started working as the CEO of Rainmatters, an initiative of his company Zerodha, a brokerage firm founded by Nithin and his brother Nikhil in 2010. In an interview, he talked about his first break as an investor. He said,
Then, in 2004, I got my first big break while I was at the gym. An Indian retiree who had returned from the US wanted advice on portfolio management and agreed to hire me as his portfolio manager, even though I had no professional degree to back me up. Today, Zerodha is the largest retail brokerage in India by all accounts and one of the largest retail trading platforms in the world. We have achieved this without ever advertising or raising any external capital or debt. We focused on innovating our products and services, which took us 10 years, slowly but with luck.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hM4n-q_wmis
In an interview, he talked about what makes Zerodha different from other companies. He said,
The zero brokerage concept caught on and the number of customers shot up from about 70,000 to a million today. Of these, about 700,000 are actively trading, he said. This makes Zerodha second only to ICICI Direct. In terms of volume, they account for 7-8% of all trades that day, which makes them the “largest retail broker in the country.”
Zerodha
Later, Nithin along with his brother Nikhil founded the investment management company ‘True Beacon’.
Awards and Honors
- Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Emerging Entrepreneur Award (2014)
- Emerging Brokerage House of the Year by Bombay Stock Exchange and Dun & Bradstreet (2014)
- Emerging Brokerage House of the Year by Bombay Stock Exchange and Dun & Bradstreet (2015)
- 10 Indian businessmen to watch in 2016
- Listed in the 2016 Forbes India 30 Under 30 Financial Elite List
- The Economic Times named him the Startup of the Year 2016 (Bootstrap)
- Retail Brokerage Firm of the Year 2019
- Zerodha tops IIFL Wealth Hurun India’s Self-Made Billionaires Under 40 List 2020
Nithin Kamath won the award
net worth
In April 2023, Nithin and his brother Nikhil Kamath officially joined the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires in 2023. Nithin’s net worth is estimated to be $2.7 billion and he is ranked 1104th on the list.
Favorites
- Song: “Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli” from “Anand” (1971)
- Book: Market Wizards by Jack Schwager
- Dream destination: Belize
Facts/Trivia
- In an interview, he talked about his career as an investor. He said,
In school I had below average grades. At 17 I stumbled upon trading and the markets. I went through the same rise and fall that every good trader goes through. In the early 2000s I borrowed money, blew up my trading account, and then worked in a call center for 4 years trying to pay off my debts while trading on the side.
He further stated,
I was a bad student in high school and college, so yeah, it’s all good now and my parents are very happy about it. I think it’s all about finding one thing that you’re passionate about and try to build your career or business around it. So the stock market was what I was passionate about, so I was lucky enough to build a business around it, so eventually luck kicked in at some point and it all worked out. So it’s all about finding something that you love to do and keep doing it.”
- In an interview, he shared how demonetisation and Aadhaar card helped his business. He said,
So, people had Aadhaar earlier, but they didn’t know how to use Aadhaar. Demonetisation pushed people to use Aadhaar in real time. People deposited money in banks; the market was doing well, so money automatically started flowing to the capital market.”
- In an interview, speaking about his company Zerodha, he said,
What we are trying to solve is how the capital markets ecosystem in India can grow. In India, we are too dependent on foreign capital, and if as a business we can somehow get people to fund businesses in India, we can help the country grow and do our job.”
- In his spare time, he enjoys singing and playing guitar.
- He enjoys running, cycling and swimming, and also plays various sports including basketball, poker and snooker.
- He has several tattoos on his body, including a Samoan tribal tattoo on his left shoulder, a tribal tattoo on his right arm, and a star tattoo on his right wrist.
Nithin Kamath’s tattoos
- Nithin is an animal lover and has a pet dog named Hobbs.
Nithin Kamath and his pet dog
- He was often spotted drinking at parties and events.
Nithin Kamath and his friends
- He loves to go to the gym with his wife Seema to work out.
- Nithin has a football jersey signed by famous Indian football player Lionel Messi, which he bought at an auction.
- In an interview, he shared his goals at the beginning of his career, saying,
When I started trading, my income was Rs 5 crore. I used to say that once I made that much, I would retire, go to Thailand and live by the sea. Today, I can add three zeros to that number, but I still won’t stop.”
- Nithin has been featured in various renowned business magazines.
Nithin Kamath on the cover of Dalal magazine
- Interviews with him and his brother have been published in many business magazines and newspapers.
Nithin Kamath and his brother in an interview with a magazine
- He admired the work of Azim Premji, a famous Indian businessman.
- Nithin Kamath owns an Audi car.
Nithin Kamath and his Audi
- In an interview, when asked, “If his life was made into a movie, who would you want to play the role?”, he replied that it would be Hrithik Roshan.
- While speaking about his career and family in an interview, Nithin mentioned that according to his parents, Seema brought good luck in his life.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education