It is not easy for a bootstrapped startup like Zerodha to compete against highly funded startups. But, the co-founders of Zerodha, Nithin, and Nikhil Kamath left no stone unturned to make it one of the most successful fintech firms in India. As a reward, the Zerodha board of directors has decided to pay the Kamath brothers a hefty salary amount of Rs 100 crore each. Seema Patil, the whole-time director and spouse of Nithin Kamath will also get Rs 100 crore as salary.
Zerodha-the Biggest Stock Brokerage Firm of India
The Indian startup ecosystem has shown a lot of potential in the last few years. Global investors have shown a lot of interest in funding Indian startups. But few startups don’t take the help of outside capitals. Such firms come in the category of bootstrap startups.
The journey of bootstrapped startups is not easy. Founders of such startups manage everything including day-to-day operations and financial aspects. Nithin and Nikhil Kamath, brothers and co-founders of Zerodha, have worked hard to establish their firm Zerodha without outside investment.
Currently, Zerodha is the biggest stock brokerage firm in India. Not only that but Zerodha also joined the unicorn club in 2020. Indian startup ecosystem recently completed 50 unicorns. Within five months of 2021, fourteen Indian startups joined the unicorn club.
To reward Zerodha’s co-founders for their extraordinary achievements, the startup board of directors has passed a resolution to pay them Rs 100 crore yearly remuneration, as per Entrackr report. Seema Patil, spouse of Nithin Kamath, will also get the same salary yearly salary of Rs 100 crore. Recently, Seema was promoted from director to whole-time director of Zerodha.
Kamath brothers and Seema will get a basic salary of Rs 4.17 crore monthly. After adding perquisite and other allowances, it will become Rs 300 crore total for three of them.
Zerodha Founders Salary vs Other Founders’ Salary
Founded in 2010, Zerodha saw an exponential surge in its user base and profit both. In the fiscal year 2020, the startup recorded a revenue of Rs 1000 crore. And, it also clocked a profit of Rs 442 crore in FY2020.
Once the latest salary is implemented, Zerodha co-founders will become the highest-paid founders in the history of the Indian startup ecosystem.
As per FY20 reports, no founder has got more than Rs 6 crore as annual remuneration. Up to now, CarTrade’s Vinay Sanghi, Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal, Paytm’s Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Dream11’s Harsh Jain, and InCred’s Bhupinder Singh are the highest-paid Indian startup co-founders with annual regeneration in the range of Rs 3 to 6 crore as per the fiscal year 2020 report.
Madhav Kota Subramanya is another whole-time director in Zerodha except for Seema Patil. Madhav’s appointment on the new designation was done on May 10, 2021, and it will be effective for 5 years with a yearly remuneration of Rs 2 crore.
As per Entrackr report, the Zerodha board has also decided to invest surplus funds up to Rs 1500 crore in other businesses via loans, securities, and guarantees.
When contacted, Zerodha did not comment anything on the current developments. Once, the startup responds, we will update the post.
