Nikhil Kamath

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 Shimoga, Karnataka, India. 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 center 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, enabling the masses to invest.

Kamath also co-founded True Beacon In 2020, an asset management company that helps ultra-high-net individuals invest in the Indian markets via privately pooled investment vehicles.

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.

In March 2023, Kamath started hosting 'WTF is' podcast. As of April 2024, Kamath has hosted Tanmay Bhat, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Suniel Shetty, Ritesh Agarwal, Ronnie Screwvala 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.

Chess.com charity match
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 apologized, calling his behavior '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 24 hours with the statement - "Chess.com has no reason to uphold anything given its rules and guidelines toward unrated games and exhibition events".