Zerodha's Billionaire CEO Becomes Youngest Indian To Sign The 'Giving Pledge,' Vows To Donate 50% Wealth

Zerodha¡¯s co-founder and CEO Nikhil Kamath has signed the ¡®Giving Pledge,' becoming the youngest Indian to do so. It is an initiative that was founded by Warren Buffet and Bill Gates along with the Microsoft co-founder's ex-wife Melinda French Gates in 2010, to encourage wealthy people to donate a majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes.

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The pledge acts as a global commitment made by wealthy individuals and their families to give away a majority of their wealth towards charitable causes, either during their lifetime or in their wills.

35-year-old Nikhil Kamath heads Zerodha, which is India¡¯s biggest stock brokerage (in terms of volume of trade).

Nikhil Kamath Pledges To Donate 50% Wealth

¡°Despite my age, I am committed to positively impacting the world,¡± says Kamath in his pledge letter. ¡°The mission of creating a more equitable society aligns with my values and aspirations.¡± He has committed to giving away 50 percent of his wealth and is interested in contributing towards areas including climate change, education and health care.

Nikhil Kamath is the youngest Indian philanthropist on the Giving Pledge list, and the only Indian on the list of signatories this year.

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Other Indians Who Have Signed 'The Giving Pledge'

While Kamath is the youngest Indian to sign the giving pledge, many other Indians have signed the pledge in the past. The list includes Rohini and Nandan Nilekani, founder of Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and co-founder of Infosys, respectively; Azim Premji, chairperson of Wipro; Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, CMD, Biocon; Anil Agarwal, founder and chairman, Vedanta; PNC and Sobha Menon of Sobha Developers; and health care barons Dr BR Shetty and Dr CR Shetty, as per Forbes India report.

About 241 philanthropists from 29 countries have signed the Giving Pledge so far. Other billionaire signatories include LinkedIn Co-founder Reid Hoffman along with his partner Michelle Yee, Tesla CEO and Twitter owner Elon Musk, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, and Canva Co-founders Melanie Perkins and Cliff Obrecht.

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Other Donations By Zerodha Co-founders

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Nikhil Kamath, along with his brother and Zerodha co-founder Nithin Kamath, had donated Rs 100 crore of personal wealth in 2022, as per the EdelGive-Hurun India Philanthropy List 2022, which was a 300 percent increase from the year before. He has launched the Young India Philanthropic Pledge (YIPP), where signatories, all under 45 years of age, will pledge 25 percent of their wealth with a minimum spend of Rs 1 crore per year. The brothers, in 2021, had announced to pledge a quarter of their personal wealth to philanthropy, with plans to give back Rs 750 crore over the next three years, the Forbes report mentioned.

¡°It cannot be that 10 percent of the country has what should belong to 90 percent of the people,¡± Kamath, who also heads asset management company True Beacon, said in an interview with Forbes India in 2021.

His philanthropic philosophy, he had said, was to encourage people to start giving earlier in life. ¡°These days for youngsters, when we start making x amount of money, and then we make 5x and 10x, our lifestyle is not changing incrementally. It is just money in a bank account,¡± Kamath said. ¡°So might as well utilise that money in a manner that both makes you feel good and helps people around you.¡±

Also Read: Bill Gates Vows To Donate All Wealth & Drop Off From Rich List

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