Soaring stock prices mint super rich founders

The rise in the market cap of Zomato, Policybazaar, MamaEarth, EaseMyTrip, TBO, and Ixigo has laid out a promising future for Indian startups aspiring to go public. This phenomenon has also helped create fortunes for shareholders, retail investors, and founders alike. Most recently, Zomato co-founder Deepinder Goyal checked into the billionaire club with his food tech company crossing the market cap of Rs 2,00,000 crore or $24 billion. 

Entrackr in collaboration with startup data intelligence platform TheKredible dives deeper into the holdings of startup founders, and their respective (current) worth. We are focusing on founders who have taken their startups public in India. 

At the top are Nykaa’s Falguni Nayar and her family (including trusts) as they command over 50% of the company. The collective worth of their holding is over $3.25 billion. 

Veteran entrepreneur and investor Sanjeev Bikhchandani comes next with his shares (via Info Edge) reaching $3.24 billion. Info Edge is an early investor in Zomato and Policybazaar, ShopKirana, Sploot, and Skylark Drones.

ALSO READ: No hurry to sell, indefinite horizon on Zomato holding: Sanjeev Bikhchandani

Zomato's founder and CEO, Deepinder Goyal, joined the billionaire club as the value of his stock ownership surpassed $1 billion. 

Rashmi and Rakesh Verma, founders of MapMyIndia, have holdings valued at $830 million followed by Mamaearth duo Varun and Ghazal Alagh at $657 million.

The bootstrapped listed company EaseMyTrip founders Nishant Pitti, Rikant Pitti and Prashant Pitti together have holdings valued at $554 million.

Despite the bumpy ride after its public offering and recent regulatory jolts, Paytm's Vijay Shekhar Sharma currently holds stocks worth $319 million, while PolicyBazaar's Alok Bansal’s holding is valued at $129 million.

Ixigo, recently listed and now a unicorn, has seen its founders Aloke Bajpai and Rajnish Kumar create a combined value of $81.5 million.

While net worth numbers based on the public value of holdings in their own firms is one figure, it’s important to note that almost all the founders mentioned here and many who are yet to go public, their personal net worth is well beyond just the value of their stake in their own firm.

Liberalization has been particularly generous when it comes to founder compensations and options in the past decade, which has allowed many professionals and non-founders also to benefit. We have also observed the phenomenon of loss making startup founders investing in a parallel portfolio of other startups, many of which have delivered handsome returns as well.  

In a market awash with liquidity driven asset prices, one can only hope that the new status as acknowledged multi millionaires or billionaires doesn’t lead to the kind of visible excesses that can turn public opinion in the wrong direction. ‘Self made’ startup founders have an obligation to give back, be seen as giving back, and most importantly perhaps, set an example in how they do it better.