Falguni Nayar's net worth tops $6.5 billion after Nykaa’s blockbuster listing

Mumbai: Falguni Nayar has emerged as India’s richest self-made woman billionaire after the blockbuster listing of her near decade-old startup .

Shares of FSN E-commerce Ventures Ltd., the parent entity of Nykaa rose as much as 89% over its IPO price on Wednesday, ascribing India's biggest cosmetics etailer a market cap of nearly $13 billion. Nayar, who along with family trusts owns more than half of the company, now has a net worth of about $6.5 billion. Savitri Jindal, who controls the OP Jindal Group conglomerate founded by her late husband, is the nation’s wealthiest woman. Her fortune is valued at $12.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.


“I started Nykaa at the age of 50 with no experience. I hope the Nykaa journey can inspire each of you to be the Nykaa (heroine) of your lives,” the Mumbai-born Nayar said before ringing the opening bell at the National Stock Exchange on Wednesday.


An investment banker for nearly 20 years, Nayar started Nykaa in 2012 months before her 50th birthday. The startup has since grown into the country’s leading beauty etailer, so much so that its initial public offering (IPO) before Diwali was subscribed nearly 82 times. The firm counts TVS Capital and Steadview Capital among its investors besides actors like Katrina Kaif and Alia Bhatt who own a minority stake in the company. Nayar owns her company’s stake through two family trusts and other promoter entities including her children.

Nykaa’s IPO is one of the many consumer Internet companies making its debut this year amid a soaring stock market. Zomato Ltd. started the trend in July and Paytm’s parent One97 Communications is continuing it with India’s biggest IPO on record.