CHIVAS PRESENTS ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR: NIKHIL KAMATH

This Bengaluru native dropped out of school at 14 to play chess professionally. Three years later, he started trading stocks. By the age of 23, he’d launched Zerodha along with his elder brother Nithin Kamath: A future-forward platform that effectively hauled the Indian stock market into the 21st century. Zerodha has grown into a unicorn and is now one of India’s hottest companies, making him the country’s youngest billionaire at 34. With the asset management company True Beacon, his next disruption lies in the hedge funds space. Soft-spoken and introspective, Kamath represents the ambition and dexterity of an upwardly-mobile generation bullish about their prospects in an increasingly digital world.

- NIDHI GUPTA

How does it feel to be the country’s youngest billionaire?

Honestly, it doesn’t mean much. Beyond a point, you’ve got to stop focusing on that aspect of life. A tag like that just embarrasses you and puts you on the spot. I get a little more attention than others because I’m younger. I’d rather people focus on my beliefs, my thoughts, my perspective on things, but I guess that’s harder to sell than just a vanity metric that everyone can relate to.

What are these thoughts and belief systems?

At this point, it’s a moral dilemma between doing what is right and doing what you like. I’m trying to decide which side I fall on. In theory, definitely on the latter, but it’s harder to practise than you think.

What is the origin story of Zerodha?