About Nithin Kamath
Nithin Kamath is the founder and CEO of Zerodha, India’s largest stock brokerage firm situated in Bangalore. He is an Indian businessman, a stockbroker, and a Financial Express columnist. Nithin was named one of India’s Top 10 Businessmen to Watch in 2016 by the Economic Times for cheap broking. He has a $1.5 billion net worth. In addition, Zerodha came out on top of the IIFL Wealth Hurun India 40 and Under Self-Made Rich List 2020.
Nithin Kamath is also one of India’s most recent self-made billionaires. Here is Nithin Kamath’s portfolio, as well as Zerodha’s success story. Nithin founded Zerodha in August of 2010, and the company now has offices in numerous major Indian cities. It is India’s largest financial intermediary. With a self-assessed valuation of $1 billion, Zerodha joined the Unicorn Club in June 2020. Today, the online stock brokerage platform has more than 22 lakh active customers and three million daily deals.
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Personal Life
Nithin was born into a Konkani family in Shivamogga, Karnataka, India. His father, U.R. Kamath, worked for Canara Bank as a senior executive. Revathi, his mother, taught him how to play the veena, a musical instrument. He also has a younger brother, Nikhil Kamath, who works at Zerodha as a co-founder. Seema Patil is Nithin Kamath’s wife, and they married in 2008. He enjoys playing basketball. Kiaan, the couple’s son, was also born to them.
Nothing has been trading since he was 17 years old. He went to engineering school, as do hundreds of other Indians, and then did something that not all engineers do: he became an entrepreneur! During college, he spent more time trading and even went bankrupt once, during the 2001 financial crisis. As a result, he was compelled to work at a call center.
He worked at the phone center at night to conserve time for trading during the day. “I did this for almost three years, working-trading, between 2004 and 2005, after which I resigned from my job when I gained my first client, who asked me to manage his money after seeing the positive returns on my trading account,” Nithin proudly adds.
When Reliance Money was introduced, he received more through recommendations and also became a sub-broker. He was one of the most successful sub-brokers at Reliance Money, with volumes occasionally exceeding those of the other 1000 or so sub-brokers.”However, as a trader, there was something missing with the way RMoney worked, which isn’t precisely what a trader needs.” “We came up with the idea for Zerodha at that point,” Nithin explains.
People that have been with Nithin since his RMoney days make up the core crew of Zerodha. His younger brother, Nikhil, is a skilled trader who oversees the prop trading desk, risk management, and all aspects of trading. Venu and Hanan are in charge of compliance and back-office issues, as well as customer service. Zerodha now employs more than 60 employees. Despite having a profitable concept (80 percent of business in the US is done through discount brokers), Zerodha has had its share of setbacks. “Our biggest challenge is credibility,” Nithin says.”People assume there’s a catch or the service is substandard since we price so little.”
Education
During his childhood, he used to travel around India with his father, escorting his father’s profession. In 1996, he moved to Bangalore, where he completed his school and college education. Nithin Kamath finished his education at Bangalore Institute of Technology, where he majored in Electronics and Telecommunications.
Professional Life
Nithin began handling his father’s trading account when he was 17 years old. Between January 1997 until January 2004, he was self-employed as a Propriety Trader while attending college. Due to a lack of trading cash, he worked in a call center for three years after spending a significant amount of time as a professional trader. During the day, he traded, and at night, he handled Telesales. From January 2001 to June 2004, he worked at Senior Telesales Executive, a call center-centered company.
Nithin began his professional career as a sub-broker before becoming a proprietary trader with Kamath Associates. It was essentially a Reliance Money franchisee. Portfolio advisory services were also deduced. From January 2004 until January 2010, he worked for the company for six years.
Success Story
Nithin Kamath was inspired by the NSE’s free trading platform ‘NOW’ to disrupt the brokerage sector with ‘Zerodha.’ Nithin founded Zerodha after a decade of stock market trading experience. He was exhausted from his stock market obsession. As a result, he created Zerodha as a catalyst for change and established a brokerage service that traders lacked. The name Zerodha is derived from the Sanskrit word “Rodha,” which means “barrier.”
Both brothers launched the company in 2010 with a five-person staff. The company began by focusing on day traders, but as time went on, it expanded dramatically. Thanks to its novel pricing tactics and in-house technology, Zerodha is India’s largest stockbroker in terms of active retail clients.
Varsity
Zerodha, led by Nithin, manages a number of well-known free online educational and community programs. Varsity, the company’s learning module, was developed to educate new investors who were making their first investments. It also has a lively Q&A forum where traders and investors may talk about stock ideas. Varsity Tutors are well-trained and certified. “Z Connect,” an interactive blog on the platform, is also available.
Awards and recognitions
- The Emerging Entrepreneur Award is given by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
- The Economic Times named Kamath as one of the ten Indian businessmen to watch in 2016 who will have the most influence in their respective industries in its annual business review.
- India’s Forbes Finance in 2016: 30 under 30
- “Use technology to make affordable items,” says the CEO of the CII. BusinessLine, 12 March 2014, retrieved 28 September 2014.
- “10 Businessmen to Watch in 2016,” Economic Times, December 31, 2015, Retrieved March 30, 2016.
