Who is Pearl Kapur, India's youngest billionaire with $1.2 billion fortune?

Kapur, 27, attributes his wealth to 90 per cent stake in unicorn Web3 start-up Zyber 365

Pearl Kapur launched the start-up in May 2023 and it attained unicorn status in only three months. Photo: Pearl Kapur

Pearl Kapur, co-founder and chief executive of Web3 cybersecurity start-up Zyber 365, has been named India's youngest billionaire with a net worth of $1.2 billion.

Mr Kapur, 27, leapfrogged Nikhil Kamath, the 37-year-old co-founder of discount brokerage Zerodha, who has a personal fortune of $1.1 billion, according to Indian newspaper The Economic Times.

Mr Kapur attributes his wealth to his 90 per cent stake in Zyber 365, which attained unicorn status in only three months.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, continues to be India’s wealthiest person and the 11th richest globally, with a net worth of $108 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

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Billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani is the second-richest Indian and ranks 13th globally with a personal fortune of $99.1 billion, the index showed.

Shapoor Mistry, a billionaire businessman who controls engineering and construction group Shapoorji Pallonji Group, and Shiv Nadar, founder and chairman of IT company HCL Technologies, are the third and fourth richest Indians with fortunes of $38.4 billion and $37.4 billion, respectively, according to Bloomberg.

Mr Kapur launched Zyber 365 in May 2023. The company is based in London and runs operations from Ahmedabad, in the western Indian state of Gujarat, The Economic Times reported.

It offers a decentralised and cyber-secure operating system, which adheres to the principles of environmental sustainability, the report said.

UK-based agricultural company Sram & Mram Group acquired an 8.3 per cent stake in the start-up for $100 million during a Series A funding round last July. It is currently valued at $1.2 billion.

The funding made Zyber 365 “India's and Asia's fastest unicorn in just three months, and the 109th unicorn in India's vibrant start-up ecosystem”, the company said at the time.

Mr Kapur is a graduate of the Queen Mary University of London and has a master of science degree in investment banking, The Economic Times said.

He previously worked as a financial adviser at convenience store chain AMPM Store and as a business adviser for blockchain consulting company Antier Solutions, according to his LinkedIn profile.

In February 2022, Mr Kapur also founded Billion Pay Technologies, which developed tech-smart exam management systems.

Meanwhile, Mr Kamath, the second-youngest person on India's rich list, achieved billionaire status in 2021 when Zerodha’s valuation exceeded $1 billion, online wealth management platform Kuvera said.

Third on the list of the youngest Indian billionaires by age is Binny Bansal, 40, co-founder of e-commerce company Flipkart, with a net worth of $1.4 billion.

In 2018, US retail giant Walmart acquired a 77 per cent stake in Flipkart for $16 billion.

Next on the list is Sachin Bansal, 42, co-founder of Flipkart with a net worth of $1.3 billion.

Nithin Kamath, 44, co-founder of Zerodha, rounds out the list of top five youngest Indian billionaires. He has a net worth of $2.7 billion, according to Kuvera.

Others on the list include Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma; Shamsheer Vayalil, founder and chairman of Burjeel Holding; Ravi Modi, founder of ethnic wear brand Manyavar; hedge fund manager Karthik Sarma; and Ranjan Pai, chairman of education and healthcare conglomerate Manipal Group, Kuvera reported.

Top 10 youngest Indian billionaires (by age)

1. Pearl Kapur, 27: $1.2 billion
2. Nikhil Kamath, 37: 1.1 billion
3. Binny Bansal, 40: $1.4 billion
4. Sachin Bansal, 42: $1.3 billion
5. Nithin Kamath, 44: $2.7 billion
6. Vijay Shekhar Sharma, 45: $1 billion
7. Shamsheer Vayalil, 46: $3.6 billion
8. Ravi Modi, 46: $3.3 billion
9. Karthik Sarma, 48: $2.9 billion
10. Ranjan Pai, 50: $2.8 billion

Source: Kuvera