Success stories of billionaires often seem distant and unattainable, but many of India’s wealthiest entrepreneurs started with nothing—no inheritance, no elite education, just an idea and an unstoppable drive. These self-made billionaires faced financial struggles, societal barriers, and failures before carving their names in history.
From Dhirubhai Ambani, who sold snacks at a village fair before founding Reliance Industries, to Kalpana Saroj, who overcame extreme poverty to lead a multi-crore manufacturing empire, their journeys prove that resilience, vision, and hard work can turn the impossible into reality.
If you’ve ever doubted whether success is within reach, these 13 billionaires are living proof that where you start doesn’t determine where you’ll end up.
1. Dhirubhai Ambani – The Visionary Behind Reliance Industries
- Born: 1932, Chorwad, Gujarat
- Industry: Petrochemicals, Telecom, Textiles, Retail
- Current Worth (Reliance Group – Combined): Over $200 billion (Reliance Group)
Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industries, started his journey in Yemen, working as a gas station attendant. With minimal savings, he returned to India and began a small trading business. His relentless vision led to the establishment of Reliance Industries, one of India’s biggest conglomerates spanning petrochemicals, telecom, retail, and digital services. His sons, Mukesh and Anil Ambani, later expanded the empire.
2. Karsanbhai Patel – The Man Behind Nirma
- Born: 1945, Mehsana, Gujarat
- Industry: Consumer Goods (Detergents, Soaps)
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹35,000+ crore (Nirma Group)
Karsanbhai Patel was a lab technician in Gujarat who made detergent powder in his backyard and sold it door-to-door on his bicycle. Competing with industry giants like Hindustan Unilever, he positioned Nirma as an affordable detergent brand. Today, Nirma Group has expanded into education, cement, and other sectors.
3. Radhakishan Damani – The Retail King of India
- Born: 1954, Bikaner, Rajasthan
- Industry: Retail (D-Mart), Stock Trading
- Estimated Net Worth: Over ₹1.60 lakh crore
Damani started as a small-time investor in the stock market with no formal education in finance. His keen investment sense helped him accumulate wealth, but his biggest success came with D-Mart, a chain of hypermarkets offering low-cost goods. Today, D-Mart is India’s most profitable retail chain, outpacing big competitors.
4. Nikhil Kamath – The Youngest Billionaire Trader
- Born: 1987, Shimoga, Karnataka
- Industry: Stock Trading, Fintech (Zerodha)
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹25,000+ crore (Zerodha)
Nikhil Kamath dropped out of school and worked at a call center for a mere ₹8,000 a month. At 17, he began trading stocks and later co-founded Zerodha, India’s first discount brokerage platform. The company disrupted the Indian stock market industry, making investing easier and more accessible.
5. Kalpana Saroj – From Child Bride to Business Mogul
- Born: 1961, Maharashtra
- Industry: Manufacturing (Kamani Tubes)
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹2,000+ crore
Born into a Dalit family, Kalpana Saroj faced discrimination and child marriage. After escaping an abusive marriage, she worked in a garment factory for ₹2 a day. Over time, she built businesses in real estate and eventually acquired Kamani Tubes, reviving the struggling company and turning it into a multi-crore enterprise.
6. Subhash Runwal – From ₹10 to Real Estate Empire
- Born: 1943, Dhulia, Maharashtra
- Industry: Real Estate
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹15,000+ crore (Runwal Group)
Runwal arrived in Mumbai with just ₹10 in his pocket. After working as an accountant, he ventured into real estate in 1978. Today, the Runwal Group is among Mumbai’s top real estate developers, known for premium residential and commercial projects.
7. Gautam Adani – India’s Infrastructure and Energy King
- Born: 1962, Ahmedabad, Gujarat
- Industry: Infrastructure, Energy, Ports
- Estimated Net Worth: Over ₹12 lakh crore
Born into a middle-class textile family, Gautam Adani dropped out of college and worked as a diamond sorter in Mumbai. Later, he ventured into commodity trading and infrastructure. Today, Adani Group is India’s largest private infrastructure company, leading in ports, airports, green energy, and logistics.
8. Sunil Bharti Mittal – The Telecom Disruptor
- Born: 1957, Ludhiana, Punjab
- Industry: Telecommunications
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹1.4 lakh crore (Bharti Airtel)
Sunil Mittal started by manufacturing bicycle parts and later imported push-button phones from Taiwan. In the 1990s, he launched Bharti Airtel, which revolutionized India’s telecom industry and now serves over 500 million customers worldwide.
9. Ritesh Agarwal – The Youngest Hotel Chain Founder
- Born: 1993, Odisha
- Industry: Hospitality (OYO Rooms)
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹9,000+ crore
Ritesh Agarwal dropped out of college and launched OYO Rooms at 19 after seeing the need for standardized budget hotels in India. Despite early struggles, he transformed OYO into one of the world’s largest hotel chains.
10. Nithin Kamath – India’s Stock Market Game-Changer
- Born: 1979, Karnataka
- Industry: Fintech, Stock Trading (Zerodha)
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹28,000+ crore
Like his younger brother Nikhil, Nithin Kamath started as a stock trader before launching Zerodha, which disrupted India’s brokerage industry by eliminating high trading costs.
11. Rajiv Sardana – Billionaire Indian Immigrant in the U.S.
- Born: Delhi, India
- Industry: IT Consulting (Innova Solutions)
- Estimated Net Worth: $1.5 billion (₹12,500+ crore)
Raj Sardana moved to the U.S. with barely $100 in his pocket. He founded Innova Solutions, a billion-dollar IT consulting company that employs thousands globally.
12. Prem Ganapathy – From a ₹150 Job to a Dosa Empire
- Born: 1973, Tamil Nadu
- Industry: Food & Hospitality (Dosa Plaza)
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹150+ crore
Arriving in Mumbai with only ₹150, Prem Ganapathy worked as a dishwasher before starting a street-side dosa stall. He expanded his business into Dosa Plaza, which now has multiple outlets across India and abroad.
13. Falguni Nayar – The Self-Made Billionaire Woman of India
- Born: 1963, Mumbai
- Industry: Beauty & E-commerce (Nykaa)
- Estimated Net Worth: ₹48,000+ crore
Falguni Nayar left her high-profile job at Kotak Mahindra to start Nykaa at 49. Despite facing skepticism, she built India’s leading online beauty and personal care platform, now valued at billions.
Closing Thoughts
The rise of these 13 Indian billionaires offers powerful lessons in entrepreneurship, resilience, and innovation. Each of them overcame financial hardships, societal challenges, and industry obstacles to build multi-billion-dollar businesses.
Key takeaways from their journeys include:
- Dhirubhai Ambani’s bold vision, showing that starting small doesn’t mean thinking small.
- Gautam Adani’s calculated risks, proving that smart investments can transform industries.
- Ritesh Agarwal’s ability to identify market gaps, turning OYO into a global brand.
- Kalpana Saroj’s persistence, demonstrating that struggles don’t define your future.
- Sunil Bharti Mittal’s innovation, reshaping India’s telecom industry with Airtel.
Their success wasn’t built overnight—it was the result of relentless effort, risk-taking, and the courage to challenge the status quo. These stories remind us that fortune favors those who dare to dream and work relentlessly to achieve it.
