20-05-2025
Nikhil Kamath
In 2023, at age 36, Nikhil Kamath became the youngest Indian to sign the Giving Pledge. By then he had already donated millions to environmental and educational projects—and started his own offshoot initiative, the Young India Philanthropic Pledge (YIPP), which asks Indians under age 45 with fortunes over $100 million to commit to giving away at least 25% of their wealth.
It's a remarkable development for a high school dropout who started working for a Bangalore call center as a teenager, and using his free time to trade stocks. In 2010 Kamath and his older brother Nithin founded Zerodha, now one of India's most successful discount brokerages, and within 13 years both had become billionaires.
Kamath still likes to invest but he's increasingly focused on giving his money away. He and Nithin together have committed more than $100 million to their Rainmatter Foundation, which focuses on solutions to climate change. Meanwhile, YIPP has raised $8 million to fund projects such as upgrading 300 schools with better computers, career counseling, and other services. Kamath says he wants to improve conventional schools because education 'is the only democratizing element that can close the inequality gap.'
