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  • Kiran Mazumdar Shaw: How Biocon Founder Became India’s First Biotech Queen?

    India is among the top 12 biotechnology destinations in the world, comprising around 600 biotech companies. In this article, you are going to find information about such a person who has made wealth all on his own, with sheer hard work and perseverance.

    Kiran Majumdar Shaw is an Indian Entrepreneur and Philanthropist who founded a biotechnology company, Biocon Limited in Bangalore, India. She is the Chairperson and Managing Director of Biocon. She received the Othmer Gold Medal for her exceptional contributions to the progress of science and chemistry. Financial Times named her in the business list of top 50 women. Forbes listed her as the 65th most powerful woman in the world. She was also named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2020. She was ranked #2 in the Women Philanthropist list of 2019 by the Hurun Report India Philanthropy List 2019. As of the year 2020, she has an estimated net worth of $4.6 billion.

    Kiran Mazumdar is the executive chairperson and the founder of one of the most prominent biopharmaceutical companies around the globe, Biocon Limited. Kiran is a person who is an inspiration to thousands of women out there who are aspiring to become entrepreneurs. Read Kiran Mazumdar Shaw’s Success Story and know more about the journey of this amazing and inspiring woman.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Biography

    Name Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
    Year of Birth 23 March 1953
    Nationality Indian
    Education Graduate degree in brewing from the University of Ballarat, Melbourne
    Profession Entrepreneur, Brewmaster
    Title Executive Chairperson – Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited
    Net Worth 370 crores USD
    Spouse John Shaw

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Personal Life
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Education
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Professional Life & Career
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Founder of Biocon
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Expansion of Biocon
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Board Memberships
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Challenges Faced in Entrepreneurship
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Success story
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Philanthropy
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Awards & Recognitions

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Success Story

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Personal Life

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and John Shaw
    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and John Shaw

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was born to Gujarati parents in Banglore on 23rd March 1953, in a middle-class family. Her father, Rasendra Mazumdar was the head brewmaster at United Breweries.

    Since childhood, she aspired to become a doctor but couldn’t get a scholarship. In 1974, she was the only girl pursuing brewery course and topped in her class. At the age of 44, Kiran got married to John Shaw in the year 1989. John was working as the chairman at Madura Coats but left the job to join Biocon with Kiran. John Shaw is serving as the Vice Chairman of Biocon since 2001.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Education

    Kiran initially wanted to follow in her father’s footsteps. She studied at Bangalore’s Bishop Cotton Girl’s high school.

    She then took a pre-university course from an affiliate of Bangalore University, Mount Carmel College. She further graduated with a bachelor’s degree in zoology from Bangalore University in 1973.

    Kiran wanted to pursue medical college but was unable to get any scholarship in any medical college. Her father then suggested to pursue fermentation science and get trained as a brewmaster, which is a very non-traditional field for women. She went to Ballarat College, Melbourne University in Australia to study malting and brewing. She earned her degree of master brewer in 1975. Kiran Shaw was the only woman who opted for the brewing course and with her intelligence, she topped in her class.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Professional Life & Career

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw with Leslie Auchincloss
    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw with Leslie Auchincloss

    Kiran started her professional career from Carlton and United Breweries, Melbourne, where she worked as a trainee brewer. Kiran Mazumdar completed her training in Carlton and United Breweries. She also worked at Barrett Brothers and Burston, Australia, as a trainee maltster.

    After coming back to India, she joined Jupiter Breweries in Calcutta as a technical consultant, and after gaining some experience there she worked as a Technical Manager at Standard Maltings Corporation situated in Baroda. She opted to further her career in Bangalore or Delhi but was told that “it’s a man’s profession” and that woman would not be employed as a master brewer in India.

    She started looking for work overseas and was given a position in Scotland. Leslie Auchincloss, the founder of Biocon Biochemicals Limited, of Cork, Ireland met Mazumdar before she could relocate. His firm produced enzymes used in the brewing, food packaging, and textile sectors.

    He was searching for an Indian entrepreneur to assist in the formation of a subsidiary in India. Kiran worked with the firm, and this was a life-changing opportunity for her. Leslie prepared her to work as a manager at his firm. Kiran went to India and began working for Biocon in a leased garage in Bangalore with an initial investment of 10,000 INR after she had a better understanding of the company’s operations and sales.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Founder of Biocon

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Founded Biocon Logo
    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw Founded Biocon Logo

    Kiran started with Biocon in 1978, she faced many challenges because of her youth, gender, and her untested business model. No bank wanted to lend her money, thus funding was a big issue.

    After getting her first funding she started with her first factory which was in a nearby 3000 sq. ft shed. The extraction of papain (a papaya enzyme used to tenderize the meat) and isinglass were the company’s first efforts (obtained from tropical catfish and used to clarify beer).

    Biocon India was the first Indian firm to make enzymes and ship them to the United States and Europe within a year of its founding. Kiran invested her first year’s profits in a 20-acre property, with plans to grow in the future. Kiran transformed Biocon India from an enzyme manufacturing firm to a fully integrated biopharmaceutical company because of her unique thinking and ideas.

    In 1984 Kiran discovered some new dimensions. At Biocon, a research and development team was created to focus on the development of innovative solid substrate fermentation methods. Biocon Pharmaceuticals was the first Indian biotech business to obtain funding from the United States for unique technology.

    Kiran started looking for alternative opportunities which were cost-effective as well low-cost. She had also proposed that drug companies be cost-sensitive in marketing to developing countries so that people can afford the drugs they need.

    Kiran and her husband John have always seen the need to provide people with the best they can, thus increasing and supplying affordable vaccines and medicines in India and helping society to overcome their medical requirements.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Expansion of Biocon

    Biocon Subsidiaries
    Biocon Subsidiaries

    She managed to establish two subsidiaries of Biocon including, Syngene in 1994 and Clinigene in 2000. Syngene provided a contractual basis early research and development support service while Clinigene focused on clinical research trials and the development of both generic and new medicines. Clinigene was later merged in Syngene and it has a current market cap of Rs.14,270.

    She incorporated Biocon Biopharmaceuticals Private Limited (BBLP) in 1990 to manufacture and market a select range of biotherapeutics in a joint venture with the Cuban Center of Molecular Immunology.

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    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Board Memberships

    She is a member of the board of governors of the Indian School of Business and a term member of on the board of MIT, USA till 2023. She has been a former member of the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. She was the first woman to head the board of governors of the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB).

    She is an independent director on the board of Infosys. She is a member of the General Body of Maharashtra State Innovation Society. She is also a member of the advisory board of the MIT Jameel Clinic.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Challenges Faced in Entrepreneurship

    She started with a seed capital of Rs.10,000. Inspite of being a joint venture, Indian laws restricted foreign ownership to only 30% of the company. Thus, 70% of the company belonged to Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.

    She faced reliability challenges because of her youth, gender, and untested business model. She was unable to secure funding for her company initially. She tried hard and finally got her first financial backing. She also struggled while recruiting people to work for her startup. She had to face technological changes with an eye to building a biotech business in India, which was then having a poor infrastructure.

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    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Success story

    Kiran met Leslie Auchincloss, who is the founder of Biocon Biochemicals Limited, of Cork, Ireland. The aforesaid company produces enzymes to be used in brewing, food packaging, and textile industries. Auchincloss was desperately looking for an entrepreneur in India, who would help her in establishing an Indian subsidiary of Biocon.

    Kiran agreed to undertake the offer on a condition that if she did not wish to continue post six months, she would be given the position of brewmaster. She started working as a trainee manager at Biocon Limited, Cork, Ireland to learn more of the business. Post the training period, she returned India to establish the business.

    In 1989, Biocon Biochemicals of Ireland was acquired from Leslie Auchincloss by Hindustan Unilever. The partnership with Unilever helped Biocon to establish best practices and quality systems across the world. Unilever then sold its chemical division including Biocon to Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI). Her husband, John Shaw invested $2 million to purchase the shares of Biocon from ICI.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Philanthropy

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw The Giving Pledge
    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw The Giving Pledge

    With the great success of her company, Biocon has allowed Kiran to donate and be the support of the people who need help but do not have the resources. Kiran is a firm believer in sharing and cares about people hence giving at least half of her wealth to philanthropic work. This was when she joined The Giving Pledge movement in the year 2015.  

    With the support of her husband John, she started up with Mazumdar Shaw Foundation in India to help the needful. The key sectors of the foundation are Education, Healthcare, Art & Culture, and a Healthy Environment. The Foundation is involved in numerous health and education outreach programs to benefit the economically weaker sections of Indian society.

    Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center
    Mazumdar Shaw Medical Center

    Mazumdar Shaw foundation has also established a 1400 bed cancer care center in Bangalore, in collaboration with Devi Shetty. Her goal is to create a world-class cancer center with affordable treatment.

    Kiran Mazumdar Shaw – Awards & Recognitions

    Kiran Mazumdar honoured by the Government of India
    Kiran Mazumdar honoured by the Government of India

    Kiran Mazumdar has been awarded several times for her leadership and  success in entrepreneurship.

    • She has been Conferred with the Bombay Management Association (BMA) Business Leader of The Decade Award in 2022.
    • She has been awarded with the “Spirit of TiE – Trailblazers Award” by TiE Bangalore on World Entrepreneurs Day in 2021.
    • Biocon has been recognized among the Top 20 in the The Medicine Maker Power List 2019 under the Business Captains category in 2019.
    • Kiran has received Padma Shri in the year 1989 and Padma Bhushan in the year 2005.
    • Recipient of EY World Entrepreneur of the Year (2020) and EY Entrepreneur of the Year India Award (2019).
    • Recipient of Order of Australia (2020).
    • Recipient of ICMR’s Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding Achievement in Healthcare (2019).
    • Recipient of AWSM Award for Excellence (2017).
    • Knight of the National Order of the French Legion of Honour (2016).
    • Recipient of Othmer Gold Medal (2014).
    • Recipient of Global Economy Prize for Business (2014).
    • Ranked among the world’s 16 Most Powerful Women in Leadership in 2021 by CEO Magazine.

    Kiran is also fond of writing books and she loves reading novels. She has written and has got published two books: ‘Ale and Arty’ and ‘India’s Innovation Challenge for Inclusive Development.

    Conclusion

    The second richest self-made woman in India is the star and pride of the nation. Nobody knew about Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw but now she is one of the most influential women in the country. She has shown the world that a woman can do everything and is a living inspiration for young woman entrepreneurs.

    FAQs

    Who is the husband of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw?

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is married to John Shaw.

    How old is Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw?

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw was born on 23 March 1953 and is 69 years old (2022).

    What is the net worth of Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw?

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has a net worth of  $370 crores as of 2022.

    What is Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw’s education?

    Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has done bachelor’s degree in zoology from Bangalore University in 1973 and earned a degree as master brewer in 1975 from Melbourne University in Australia.

  • Neeraj Kakkar: CEO & Co-Founder at Paper Boat

    Neeraj Kakkar is the CEO and Co-founder of Hector Beverages Pvt. Ltd. which manufactures Paper Boat drinks, Tzinga Energy drinks, and many more interesting works in the pipeline. He is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) at Paper Boat. Neeraj Kakkar along with James Nuttall, Suhas Misra, and Neeraj Biyani launched Paper Boat in 2013 which is headquartered in Bengaluru, India. He also served as the former General Manager at the Coca-Cola Company, India.

    He currently resides in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. He has a passion for poker. He came from a small town and worked for Coca-Cola India and later established his own venture in Bengaluru.

    Neeraj Kakkar – Biography

    Name Neeraj Kakkar
    Born 1974
    Nationality Indian
    Education MDI Gurgaon, The Wharton School
    Profession Entrepreneur
    Designation CEO & Co-founder, Hector Beverages; Paper Boat
    Net Worth $100 million (2015)

    Neeraj Kakkar – Education
    Neeraj Kakkar – Professional Life
    Neeraj Kakkar – Hector Beverages
    Neeraj Kakkar – Paper Boat

    Neeraj Kakkar – Education

    Neeraj Kakkar is born & brought up in Haryana. Neeraj pursued Post Graduate Program in Management (PGDM) from Management Development Institute (MDI), Gurgaon (1996-1998). He later did a general management course, Master of Business Administration (MBA) from The Wharton School (2008-2010).

    Neeraj Kakkar – Professional Life

    Neeraj worked as a Summer intern at Mckinsey and Helion Ventures. He also worked with Union Carbide and later joined Wipro as well.

    Neeraj worked for the Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt. Ltd. from October 2001 to July 2008. He was the General Manager, employed to examine area operations and various other roles for six long years.

    After fleeing to Wharton for his second MBA in 2008, he established his own venture, Hector Beverages and its portal Paper Boat in 2013.

    • Neeraj is a Palmer Scholar, which is one of the Highest Academic Honor
    • He is designated as the Co-President of Wharton General Management Club
    • He holds a respective position as a Co-Chair in Wharton Leadership Lectures Committee

    Neeraj Kakkar – Hector Beverages

    Hector Beverages Logo
    Hector Beverages Logo

    Currently, Hector Beverages has two manufacturing plants: one in Mysuru, another in Manesar, Gurgaon. The company produces up to ten million pouches per month.

    The first-ever production plant of the company was established in Manesar in 2010. However, Paper Boat’s popularity raised intensive demand for fruit drinks in Manesar. While the plant at Manesar did not keep up with the fortunate production. The location did not have adequate facilities for manufacturing coconut water, sugarcane juice, and drinks that the company was looking to launch.

    Thus, they found a satisfactory location to launch drinks as per their requirements. They constructed a larger setup in Mysuru, Karnataka in 2014. Mysuru plant recorded a production capacity of 380 bottles per minute while the Manesar plant recorded only 80 bottles per minute.

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    Neeraj Kakkar – Paper Boat

    Paper Boat Logo

    Paper Boat was launched by its parent company Hector Beverages in August 2013. Paper Boat manufactures a range of traditional, indigenous drinks such as Aam Panna, Jaljeera, and Aam Ras. The laid-back office of Paper Boat named Finchley Castle is located in Bengaluru, India.

    The company retains the traditional recipes with innovation to emanate inherited Indian drinks to an urban market reach. Artificial coloring or preservatives are highly avoided to make their products reliable.

    How Neeraj Kakkar Started Paper Boat?

    Neeraj Kakkar - Paper boat Co-founder
    Neeraj Kakkar – Paper boat Co-founder

    The idea of manufacturing traditional Indian drinks propounded through the collective intellect of the four original founders of Hector Beverages.

    The company was founded by Neeraj Kakkar, Neeraj Biyani, Suhas Misra, and James Nuttall. Three among these four were colleagues at Coca-Cola, India. While, James Nutall was an American student, who studied with Kakkar at Wharton School and came to India to collaborate his efforts in the drinks business.

    The company launched its first energy drink, Tzinga, in 2011. Later, Misra and Nutall left the company, they sold their shares to the remaining co-founders, Biyani and Kakkar.

    After one and a half years, Kakkar proposed the idea of launching Aam Panna and the story of traditional drinks continued thereafter. Kakkar raised several efforts to bring a variety of Indian flavors and the rest is history.

    Neeraj Kakkar: The Paper Boat story

    Paper Boat Products

    The products of the Paper Boat range through a variety of traditional drinks obtained from fruits. Some of them include Aam Ras, Alphonso Aam, Jamun Kala Khatta, Chilli Guava, Nimbu Pani, Kokum, Kanji, Sugarcane juice, Lychee Ras, Apple and Orange, Coconut Water, Panakam, etc.

    The company also manufactures drinks made via milk like Butter Milk, Thandai, Badam Milk, Neer Milk, Neer More, Sherbet-e-Khas etc.

    The company diversified its products by producing Indian snacks as well. Some of them include, Chikki, Banana Chips, Aam Papad, Bakarwadi, Namak Para, Gur Para, Shakar Para, Jaljeera, etc.

    Paper Boat exclusively exports its products across the US, UK, France, Canada, Australia, the Netherlands, UAE, and Malaysia. The company spent a significant amount of money on advertising and marketing. Paper Boat has consecutively launched several traditional Indian flavored drinks overseas. It has diversified into producing snacks as well.

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    Conclusion

    Neeraj Kakkar introduced Paper Boats to the world which most often symbolize life. Like life, the paper boat won’t float forever, the paper boat is fragile but it brings hope and innocence.

    Paper Boat believes in providing their consumers a good time with their drinks with native tastes and experiences. The company’s inspiration lies in emulating these tastes and experiences standing tall on a benchmark of hygiene and safety. The company aims to get the good moments out for you while avoiding the unpleasant bits.

    FAQs

    Who is Neeraj Kakkar?

    Neeraj Kakkar is the co-founder and CEO of Paper Boat & Hector Beverages.

    Is Paper Boat an Indian company?

    Paper Boat is a brand of traditional Indian beverages and foods produced and marketed by Hector Beverages, which is headquartered in Bengaluru, India. Paper Boat was launched by Hector Beverages in August 2013.

    Who is the owner of Paper Boat?

    Paper Boat is a brand of traditional Indian beverages and food products owned by Hector Beverages. Hector Beverages was founded by Neeraj Kakkar, James Nuttall, Neeraj Biyani, and Suhas Misra.

    Is Paper Boat juice healthy?

    While Paper Boat sells non-carbonated drinks, the products are still high in sugar and aren’t considered healthier than other beverages such as fruit juice.

    Who is the CEO of Paper Boat?

    Neeraj Kakkar is the CEO of Paper Boat.

    What is the valuation of Paper Boat?

    Paper Boat’s valuation in 2019 was estimated to be $130Million.

  • Sudhir Chaudhary – The Interesting Journey of Consulting Editor of Aaj Tak

    Sudhir Chaudhary is an Indian journalist and former CEO of Zee News. He became popular after his tv show DNA (Daily News and Analysis). Sudhir Chaudary’s journey started as a journalist on Zee television. He joined Zee News in 1993 at the early stage of Zee television. He worked on other channels like live television reporting and then 24 hours news television.

    One Important aspect of Sudhir Chaudhary’s life as he was part of a crew who went on a task of coverage of the Vajpayee–Musharraf Indo-Pak meeting in Islamabad, after the Indian Parliament attack happened in 2001 and also the Kargil war too.

    Chaudhary resigned again from Zee News in July 2022. Sudhir Chaudhary conveyed to Essel Group chairman Subhash Chandra in his resignation letter saying that his decision was a “result of my internal deliberations” to “start my own enterprise”.

    There were rumours that the DNA host is going to start his own venture but Sudhir joined Aaj Tak as a consulting editor.

    Sudhir Chaudhary – Early life
    Sudhir Chaudhary – Career
    Sudhir Chaudhary – Controversies
    Sudhir Chaudhary – Awards

    Sudhir Chaudhary- Biography

    Name Sudhir Chaudhary
    Birthplace Hodal, Haryana
    Born 7 June 1974
    Nationality Indian
    Age 48 years
    Wife Niti Chaudhary
    Education Diploma in Journalism, BA
    Position Consulting Editor at Aaj Tak
    Net worth Rs.22 Crores

    Sudhir Chaudhary – Early life

    After completing his BA, Chaudhary prepared for the UPSC exam as he aimed to become a civil servant. He hadn’t gotten off the exam so went on to pursue a diploma in journalism and started his career with Zee television in 1993.

    Sudhir Chaudhary – Career

    Chaudhary has been working in the television news industry since 1993. He belongs to the first generation of television journalists. Sudhir Chaudhary when speaking at TED Talks explained the story of how news channels have evolved.

    Sudhir Chaudhary at TEDx
    Sudhir Chaudhary at TEDx

    The first television channel Doordarshan started a 5 min news bulletin and then Zee television the news channel and how hard he and his team struggled to get the news travelling to various places and putting a lot of effort into gathering the news to run the show. He was in live television reporting and also worked in India 24.

    In 2003, he left Zee news and played a key role in the launching of Sahara Samay, the Hindi-language news channel of the Sahara group. He also joined India TV for a brief time. In 2012, he rejoined Zee News, where he hosts the news show Daily News & Analysis (DNA).

    The news show Daily News & Analysis (DNA) became the highest-rated TRP show in the country in news television history. Although the show had many rumours that Sudhir Chaudhary manipulated the proof of many issues.

    Chaudhary resigned again from Zee News in July 2022 to join Aaj Tak as a consulting editor.

    Sudhir Chaudhary in Aaj Tak Office
    Sudhir Chaudhary in Aaj Tak Office

    Sudhir Chaudhary – Controversies

    One of the biggest allegations faced by Chaudhary was 100 crore money extortion from Mp Naveen Naveen Jindal. The issue follows this way, in the year 2012 Chaudhary and Zee business editor Samir Ahulwlia was alleged to extortion of ₹100 crores from his company in exchange for dropping stories that linked Naveen Jindal former Mp and Jindal Steel chairman.

    Jindal had also mentioned that he had handed over 14 min footage to the media and adding to it he stated “The government gives channels a licence to show news. They are not given a licence for extortion or blackmail.” On filing FIR by Jindal the police arrested both the head of Zee and were put in Tihar jail for 14 days and later on released on Bail.

    Dhulagarh Riots

    In the year 2016, Zee News and Sudhir Chaudhary faced another issue which was due to the Dhulagarh riots. Although the riots were happening for many days the West Bengal government did not allow any media to showcase the issue to the country and the state too. The government believed that it increases the issues even more but Zee News covered the riots and a case was filed against Sudhir Chaudhary, cameraman Tanmay Mukherjee and correspondent Pooja Mehta by the Bengal government.

    Jihad Chart Controversy

    Even in 2020, Sudhir Chaudhary went to a controversial issue telecasting a ‘jihad chart’ in his DNA episode. The issue went into a non-bailable case under section 295A (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious belief). The issue is Chaudhary spoke about the anti-muslim conspiracy which came on Facebook against the minorities in 2014 from an unknown website.

    Adding to this Sudhir Chaudhary faced many controversies in the continuing year.

    Sudhir Chaudhary – Awards

    • In the year 2013 Sudhir Chaudhary won a Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism in the “Hindi broadcast” category. He won the award for interviewing the December 16 gang-rape victim.
    • In 2022 Sudhir Chaudhary was awarded the most trusted CEO award in the Idea fest 2022.

    FAQs

    Who is Sudhir Chaudhary’s wife?

    Sudhir Chaudhary is married to Niti Chaudhary.

    What is the salary and net worth of Sudhir Chaudhary?

    The salary of Sudhir Chaudhary is 25 lakh per month and his total net worth is 3 million dollars.

  • Jan Koum: The Success Story of the Co-founder of WhatsApp

    The evolution of communication is something to ponder, and it is not just about texting or chatting. With the help of smartphones today, we are connected to our near and dear ones around the clock.

    Who knew that the messaging app we use today is by an entrepreneur who is worth an inspiration to many of us. We are talking about the co-founder of the world’s most popular messaging application, WhatsApp, Jan Koum.

    In this article, discover the success story of Jan Koum. How he started from poverty and the challenges of making a messaging platform for the world that loves it very much.

    Jan Koum – Biography

    Date of Birth February 24, 1976
    Age 46
    Education San Jose State University (Drop out)
    Occupation Businessman, Computer Engineer
    Known for Co-founder of WhatsApp
    Net Worth 970 crores USD
    Nationality Ukrainian-American

    Jan Koum – Early Life
    Jan Koum – Career Growth
    Jan Koum – Personal Life
    Jan Koum – Controversies
    Jan Koum – Awards and Achievements
    Jan Koum – Investments
    Jan Koum – Unknown Facts
    Jan Koum – Quotes

    Jan Koum – Early Life

    Jan Koum grew up in Kyiv, Ukraine, in a Jewish family. His father was a construction worker, and his mother used to do household chores. Life was not that easy for him as they used to be surrounded by communists. It was in after the collapse of Eastern Europe, that his family decided to move to America.

    At the age of 16, he and his mother went to California in the hopes of starting a new life. With with support of a social program, they managed to get a two-bedroom apartment.

    Matters got worse when his father couldn’t join them in America. Soon after, his mother got cancer. To keep up with their survival, they got federal assistance, where Jan Koum worked as a janitor at a grocery store, and his mother as a babysitter. His mother left him in 2000 after having a long battle with cancer.

    Jan Koum – Career Growth

    He started as a computer engineer at the age of 18. While being a student at the San Jose State University, he was also working at Ernst & Young as a security tester. To gain more exposure, he joined a computer security group called w00w00.

    Jan Koum met his fellow business partner Brian Acton at Ernst & Young. They both got along like good friends. After bagging the job at Yahoo, Jan  Koum immediately left his school and couldn’t make it to graduation.

    Jan and Brian both ended up working nearly a decade at Yahoo. The duo left their jobs and headed to South America. It was during that period when, they both applied for a job at Facebook, but luck had other plans for them.

    The onset of WhatsApp

    After getting rejected by Facebook, the duo decided to start their own company.

    2009 was the era of new technologies and innovation. This struck Jan Koum’s mind and gave him the idea to create an application. Seeing different apps like Skype, Shazam, and many more, Jan Koum wanted to create a platform that could improve communication among friends and families through phone calls and texting.

    Alex Fishman was the person with who Jan Koum shared his idea first. Furthermore, Alex helped his friend by introducing him to a front-end developer who created the app.

    Alex Fishman with Brian Acton
    Alex Fishman with Brian Acton

    It was Jan Koum’s 33rd birthday, 2009, when he incorporated WhatsApp Inc in California. In its initial days, WhatsApp was not used widely as people did not know about its existence.

    After a few days, thanks to Apple when it added push notification ability to apps, WhatsApp gained a large fan base and replaced the old SMS style. After gaining favour, Jan Koum pitched in his friend, Brian, who managed to bring $250,000 through seed funding.

    When Facebook Acquired WhatsApp

    In 2014, things took a turn for Jan Koum when he got an invitation from Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg to have dinner with him and offered a deal to join the Facebook board. Soon afterwards, WhatsApp was sold to Facebook for $19 billion.

    After staying for a few years, Jan Koum along with his friend Brian left Facebook due to some disputes. Later on, it was found out that Jan Koum was still an employee of Facebook through a method called ‘rest and vest’, where earned around $450 million.

    Jan Koum – Personal Life

    In his personal life, Jan Koum is believed to have a difficult childhood. He grew up in a communist regime, where privacy was not an option for him. He has lived through poverty and struggled his way up to becoming the co-founder of WhatsApp.

    Jan Koum is also known for his philanthropy work. He has his own Koum Family Foundation, a charity organisation, which has given an amount of $1.15 billion of Facebook stock. He has also donated $1 million to The FreeBSD Foundation, followed by many donations to Jewish and Israeli-related causes.

    Jan Koum – Controversies

    In 1996, he was accused of physically threatening his ex-girlfriend. Due to this incident, a restraining order was granted against him in the state court of San Jose.

    Jan Koum – Awards and Achievements

    The following are some of Jan Koum’s achievements:

    • He was a runner-up at the 8th Annual Crunchies Awards in 2015 in the category Founder of the Year.
    • He was at no. 62 under the Forbes List of the 400 Richest Americans in 2014.

    Jan Koum – Investments

    He invested in Noom (a digital healthcare platform) on May 6, 2019. The money raised is valued at $58 million.

    Jan Koum – Unknown Facts

    Some of the interesting things about Jan Koum are as follows:

    • His full name is Jan Boris Koum.
    • He used to collect food stamps as a teenager.
    • His favourite pastime activity is ultimate Frisbee.
    • He signed the deal with Facebook in the same building where he used to collect food stamps.
    • He worked at Yahoo for nine years.
    • He hates being called an entrepreneur.
    • He has never spent a penny to advertise WhatsApp.
    • He is rumoured to be dating the 30-year-old Ukrainian model, Evelina Mambetova.

    Jan Koum – Top Quotes

    His popular quote is, “I want to do one thing, and do it well.”

    FAQs

    Why did Jan Koum create WhatsApp?

    Jan Koum and Brian Acton created WhatsApp in 2009 because they wanted to create an app that could improve communication among friends and families.

    What is the net worth of Jan Koum?

    The net worth of Jan Koum is 970 crores USD as of 2022.

    Where is Jan Koum now?

    Jan Koum has retired and now lives in California.

  • Bill Ready – Success Story of Pinterest’s New CEO

    Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ are out. But there’s another social media platform emerging as an effective tool for corporate promotion.

    Since its 2010 debut, the online picture bulletin board known as Pinterest has grown tremendously. According to a recent analysis from the Cambridge, Massachusetts-based content-sharing service Shareaholic, it also drives more traffic to business websites and blogs than YouTube, Google+, and LinkedIn put together.

    As of June 28, 2022, Ben Silbermann, co-founder of the well-known picture and link-sharing website, Pinterest, stepped down from his position as CEO after serving in that capacity for 12 long years.

    As posted by Pinterest, “With effect from June 29, 2022, co-founder, CEO, and president of Pinterest, Bill Ready, will take over as CEO and a member of the Board of Directors, replacing co-founder, CEO, and president Ben Silbermann in the newly formed position of Executive Chairman.”

    With more than 400 million active users each month, Pinterest has established a robust advertising company that increased sales by double during the pandemic. Additionally, Pinterest has been utterly committed to prioritising Pinners, constantly enhancing its roadmap, supporting artists, shopping, and expanding globally.

    Read this article further, to know about the journey of Bill Ready, starting from his early life, education, his current state, and much more.

    Bill Ready – Biography

    Name Bill Ready
    YOB 1979
    Nationality American
    Occupation CEO at Pinterest
    Education MBA at Harvard Business School, Information Systems and Finance at the University of Louisville

    Bill Ready – Early Life, and Education
    Bill Ready – Career
    Bill Ready – Investments
    Bill Ready – Pinterest

    Bill Ready – Early Life, and Education

    At the age of 13, Bill Ready began working as a mechanic at his father’s Kentucky auto-repair business. It didn’t take him long to consider other career options that wouldn’t require bringing greasy messes home.

    In order to pursue an MBA at Harvard Business School, he studied information systems and finance at the University of Louisville, where he graduated as valedictorian.

    Mr. Ready was appointed CEO of Braintree, which assists companies including Hotel Tonight and 37Signals in processing credit card payments online, after experiences at McKinsey & Co. in Chicago and three startups.

    Bill Ready – Career

    Bill has established and expanded several cutting-edge payments firms, giving him extensive expertise in both the payments and technology sectors.

    In June 2022, Bill Ready was appointed CEO of Pinterest. Prior to that, Bill worked as the president of Google Commerce and a board member of Venminder for ten years.

    Ready began working for Google in January 2020 as the President of Commerce before being promoted to President of Commerce, Payments, and Next Billion Users in April 2021.

    Bill served as COO of PayPal before joining Google. In this role, he was in charge of product development, engineering, and end-to-end customer service for PayPal’s consumer, merchant, Braintree, Venmo, Paydiant, and Xoom businesses. Additionally, he served as co-chair of PayPal’s Operating Group, which is responsible for achieving the organization’s sales and profit targets.

    In his role as CEO, Bill and his team created one of the most cutting-edge and significant firms in the payments sector. Bill joined PayPal in 2013 after Braintree was acquired by the company.

    The world’s most disruptive companies, such as Uber, Airbnb, Houzz, and HotelTonight, are all powered by Braintree’s industry-leading payment solutions, which the company designed with a focus on mobile-first experiences, easy developer tools, and outstanding customer service.

    Bill served as an executive in residence at Accel Partners, a renowned Silicon Valley venture capital and growth equity company, before joining Braintree. Bill, a seasoned professional in the payments sector, took over as president of iPay Technologies in 2008 and saw the business through a period of significant sales and profitability development before it was sold to Jack Henry & Associates in 2010 for $300 million.

    He was an early engineer at two more successful startups, Emphesys (merged with Humana in 2001), and Netzee (IPO in Nov 1999), as well as a strategy consultant for McKinsey & Company, where he mentored top financial technology businesses.

    Bill Ready – Investments

    Two investments were made personally by Bill Ready.

    Date Organization Name Round Amount
    Oct 15, 2021 Pagos Solutions Seed Round $10M
    Sep 28, 2021 Highnote Series A $42.5M

    Bill Ready – Pinterest

    Pinterest Logo
    Pinterest Logo

    The social networking platform Pinterest’s founder and longstanding CEO, Ben Silbermann, made his departure from his position known on June 28.

    Bill Ready, who formerly oversaw Google’s e-commerce division, would take the CEO post as of 30th June, with Silbermann moving into the new role of executive chairman for Pinterest.

    Google has copied Pinterest’s business model due to the latter’s relative success. In 2020, the search engine giant released Google Collections, which allowed users to organise their search searches into collections that much resembled Pinterest.

    The promotion of Ready to CEO coincides with Pinterest’s recent shift in emphasis toward e-commerce. The business bought The Yes, an AI purchasing platform, earlier this year to further its objectives in the field.

    Prior to his two years at Google, Ready held the positions of Chief Executive Officer of PayPal and CEO of Venmo, both of which will be well suited to the ambitions of the business. He contributed to the introduction of a Google feature that allowed users to go directly from a store listing on a search results page to the store’s checkout page.

    “There’s no better time to join Pinterest,” said Ready in a statement. “I have long admired the brand and platform that Ben and the Pinterest team have created and everything the Company stands for. Having built multiple businesses from zero and operated at the scale of billions of users, I have a deep appreciation for what it takes to scale a business like this to the next level. I look forward to the many opportunities ahead in Pinterest’s next chapter of growth and success.”

    FAQs

    Who is Bill Ready?

    Bill Ready served as vice president and chief operating officer of PayPal and CEO of Braintree and Venmo and has also been the president of commerce at Google in January 2020.

    What is the age of Bill Ready?

    Bill Ready is 40 years old.

    What is the net worth of Bill Ready?

    The net worth of Bill Ready is approximately $48 million.

  • Arnab Goswami: The Intriguing Journey of Indian News Anchor and Co-founder of Republic TV

    Watching the news to keep oneself updated is an age-old habit of many people. However, the mindset of people has changed, and so does the way a news channel operates.

    We have been seeing Arnab Goswami for quite some time with his indomitable attitude and personality on TV. Arnab is the man who gave Indian news its global exposure and growth.

    While we have known him to be an anchor and journalist, some of us are yet to know his journey of becoming an entrepreneur and how he started his news channel.

    He is the managing director and editor-in-chief of the Indian news channel Republic TV. Let us find out his story of becoming more than just an anchor and how he formed his own media channel.

    Arnab Goswami – Biography

    Name Arnab Goswami
    Birthplace Guwahati, Assam
    Born 1973
    Age 49
    Education St. Anthony College, Oxford University
    Position Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV
    Wife Samyabrata Ray Gosawami
    Children Che Goswami

    Arnab Goswami – Personal Life
    Arnab Goswami – Career Growth
    Arnab Goswami – Controversies
    Arnab Goswami – Awards & Achievements
    Arnab Goswami – Unknown Facts

    Arnab Goswami – Personal Life

    Arnab Goswami was born in an Assamese family. His father Manoranjan Goswami was an Indian Army officer who served the nation for 30 years. Like his father, who wrote columns and various books, Arnab’s mother Suprabha Gain-Goswami is also a novelist.

    His family comes from a background of solicitors and political associations. Arnab’s maternal grandfather, Gaurisankar Bhattacharyya, was a member of the Communist Party of India. His uncle, Siddhartha Bhattacharyya, headed as a member of the BJP for the Assam unit.

    Arnab Goswami holds a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the Hindu College at Delhi University. He did his Master’s in Social Anthropology from St. Antony’s College, Oxford.

    He has also served as a visiting associate at the International Studies Department at Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge University.

    Arnab Goswami – Career Growth

    Arnab’s first job started as a journalist at ‘The Telegraph’ in Kolkata. Within a span of one year, he joined NDTV, where he did various shows such as ‘News Tonight’ and ‘Newsnight’ which won him the accolade for the Best News Anchor of Asia 2004.

    After 10 years of being a journalist, he joined ‘Times Now’ as its editor-in-chief in 2006. Since then, his journey as an anchor has been quite sensational where he has interviewed some great personalities such as Dalai Lama, Hillary Clinton, Gordon Brown (former UK Prime Minister), and so on.

    The beginning of his entrepreneurial journey

    Like any other entrepreneur with goals, Arnab Goswami also believed in working towards an ambition with hard work and commitment. His vision was to change the shape of how people viewed Indian News, and that is how he launched his very own channel – Republic TV.

    Arnab Goswami, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Republic Media
    Arnab Goswami, Co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of Republic Media

    Because of all the love and support he has been receiving from his viewers, he intends to build a different country, a new India.

    He strongly believes in democracy and often has been heard saying, “Democracy is of the people, for the people, by the people. Not of the convicts, for the convicts, and by the convicts.”

    Arnab Goswami can be regarded as the only editor to have built an organisation from scratch. It is believed that he has worked day and night to build Republic TV and that the journey from resigning from Times Now to becoming an entrepreneur was not easy.

    Arnab Goswami – Controversies

    Arnab Goswami has a personality one cannot simply ignore. Ever since he became the managing director of Republic TV, many times he has been accused of supporting the Bharatiya Janta Party and spreading fake news for TRP.

    One of the biggest controversies he had in his lifetime was the TRP manipulation scam. It happened in October 2020, when Mumbai Police received FIR against Republic TV along with other news channels. The channel was charged with tampering with its Television Rating Point (TRP).

    The CBI investigated almost every news channel in India, making it a nationwide investigation. Arnab Goswami with Partho Dasgupta, former CEO of Broadcast Audience Research Council has been accused of manipulating the rating points, causing a loss of Rs 431 crore to the organisation.

    Arnab Goswami – Awards & Achievements

    Arnab Goswami sure is a personality one cannot simply ignore. Below are some of the awards and achievements he has earned so far:

    • IMPACT Person of the Year, 2015
    • ENBA Awards for News Television Editor-in-Chief 2012
    • Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism in 2008
    • Elected as the President of News Broadcasting Federation in 2019
    • Hosted for 65 hours on the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks

    Arnab Goswami – Unknown Facts

    Here are some unknown facts about Arnab Goswami:

    • His wife, Samyabrata Ray Goswami, is the co-owner of Republic TV.
    • He was the first Indian journalist to have interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he won the elections.
    • He is the author of the book, “Combating Terrorism: The Legal Challenge”.
    • His first-ever interview was with Sonia Gandhi.
    • He is the highest-paid journalist in India.
    • He has named his son Che Goswami, after the revolutionary Che Guevara.
    • Debating was his hobby since his school days.

    Mohammed Zubair – The Complete Journey of Alt News Co-founder
    Mohammed Zubair is the co-founder of the popular fact-checking website, Alt News. Here’s his complete journey of journalism and founding Alt News.
    StartupTalkyAbinaya Arangarajan

    Conclusion

    As they say, love him or hate him, you cannot ignore him. To many, Arnab Goswami is one of the greatest journalists in India. To think of his journey, starting as an anchor to becoming a managing director of a news channel, Arnab, truly shows that one needs to have the determination and hard work to reach their goal.

    Arnab Goswami’s strong debating skills, and the urge to bring out the truth no matter what, define him to be a brave individual with high ambition. After having spent 24 years in journalism, Republic TV is his biggest success story in today’s age.

    The Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 gave him the idea to rise as a media entrepreneur. His vision lies in taking the help of digital media to reach his audience, which landed his channel in the top five English news publishers in July and August 2020.

    FAQs

    What is the age of Arnab Goswami?

    Arnab Goswami was born on 7 March 1973 and is 49 years old.

    What is the net worth of Arnab Goswami?

    The net worth of Arnab Goswami is approximately $34 Million.

    Who is the wife of Arnab Goswami?

    Arnab Goswami is married to Samyabrata Ray Goswami.

  • Mohammed Zubair – How He Co-founded Alt News and Rose to Prominence?

    According to the sources, over 293 journalists have been jailed globally, and India ranks first with the most number of arrests. Over and above, several were killed and attacked for questioning. Thus, it is quite a risky job for a journalist to do their job in India.

    As you see, right now Mohammed Zubair is all over the news, so it is no surprise to look into him on the internet too. Mohammed Zubair is none other than the co-founder of an Indian fact-checking website, Alt News.

    His arrest was made into a piece of national news after being allegedly accused of spreading fake news about India’s Prime Minister, Narendra Modi. Moreover, Alt News has allegedly reported many misinformed news articles regarding Hindu religious beliefs.

    On the other hand, several journalists opposed the arrest. So clearly, it is indeed a war of words between the nation and journalists. ‘The nation wants to know!’ does really make more sense now. In spite of all dramas, Mohammed Zubair was lauded for his achievements, investments he made, and career as an Indian Journalist.

    Muhammed Zubair- Biography

    Name Mohammed Zubair
    Birthplace Not Known
    Born 29th December 1989
    Nationality Indian
    Age 33 years old
    Position Co-founder, Alt News

    Mohammed Zubair – Early Life
    Mohammed Zubair – Career
    Mohammed Zubair – Personal Life
    Mohammed Zubair – The Journey So Far
    Mohammed Zubair – Investments
    Mohammed Zubair – Controversies
    Mohammed Zubair – Awards and Recognitions

    Mohammed Zubair – Early Life

    Mohammed Zubair was born on 29th December of 1989 in India. Mohammed Zubair has been fond of exposing bogus news to the light since his adolescence years. The birthplace and parents of Zubair are yet to be disclosed. However, it was sure that as an Indian journalist, he has progressed very well. His accounts commenced after becoming the co-founder of Alt News.

    Furthermore, the misinformation is analyzed by Alt News, which largely identifies the most widely spread. They monitor Facebook sites that have at one time or another circulated inaccurate news and are on either extreme of the ideological spectrum employing CrowdTangle, a Facebook tool used by publishers to track how information spreads throughout the internet.

    Similar content sent on Twitter by users who have a notoriety for often tweeting false information is monitored by them using TweetDeck, a Twitter management application. They further keep an eye on several WhatsApp groups that they have managed to access, and they also get material from individuals who inform them via social media and WhatsApp.

    Mohammed Zubair – Career

    Alt News is an Indian fact-checking website, founded by former software engineers named Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair. They officially launched the portal on February 2nd of 2017 with headquarters in Ahmedabad.

    The ultimate goal of this fact-checker launch was to expose fake news. It all started with Pratik Sinha’s interest in exposing the bogus news, as his parents are both human rights activists.

    Pratik Sinha, Alt News Founder
    Pratik Sinha, Alt News Founder

    The beginning of Mohammed Zubair’s career started back in 2013 when fake news was at its peak. From keeping tabs on every news involving specious content, Mohammed Zubair has successfully brought several happenings into the open.

    Besides, he also received several threats for his work, however, Mohammed managed to still work on his website effortlessly. On the other hand, Zubair is an active Twitter user, who is sometimes criticized for his Hinduphobic tweets.

    Mohammed Zubair – Personal Life

    Mohammed Zubair as far as we know hasn’t revealed his private life on the internet. He has put in his whole life for the Alt News website. Although, due to the work complexities, he has faced numerous death threats and attacks.

    On 27th June 2022, Zubair was arrested by Delhi Police for his Hinduphobia tweet in 2017. Although, many prominent journalists as well as his friend, Pratik Sinha, who is the founder of Alt News stated that his arrest was without notice.

    Indeed, a myriad of well-known reporters and writers have come forward to support Mohammed Zubair. Moreover, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Trinamool Congress member Derek O’Brien, and Congress MP Shashi Tharoor have extended their support via social media.

    Congress Leaders tweet in support of Mohammed Zubair
    Congress Leaders tweet in support of Mohammed Zubair

    Mohammed Zubair – The Journey So Far

    The Alt News journey features the journey of Mohammed Zubair as well. Besides, his individual work has been much appreciated by several other journalists. This includes exposing the individuals of the Hindu right-wing website DhainikBharat.org, the lynching of a few Muslims, Delhi-based lawyer Prashant Patel’s fake news tweet, and many more.

    On the whole, he and Sinha have claimed to have a list of 40 real sources, who are allegedly associated with publishing fake news over the world. Zubair along with his Alt News team published a book titled India Misinformed: The True Story in March 2019.

    India Misinformed: The True Story Book
    India Misinformed: The True Story Book

    On the other hand, Mohammed Zubair’s tweets are still a controversial matter, which eventually got him arrested. In addition to it, he is an active Indian journalist, who never stops questioning or exposing fake news.

    As far as we know, Mohammed Zubair is now in four days of custody under Delhi Police due to an ‘objectionable tweet’ he had posted in 2018 against a Hanuman (a Hindu Deity).

    Mohammed Zubair – Investments

    Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair, two former IT engineers, started and currently manage the fact-checking website Alt News in India. In an effort to tackle the fake news epidemic, it was created on February 9th, 2017.

    How 50 lakhs have recently been placed into Zubair’s account following police questioning is still a mystery to Despite, the co-founder of Zubair who is operating the nonprofit organization “Alt News.”

    Mohammed Zubair – Controversies

    In recent months, there have been numerous rallies throughout the nation of India. Nupur Sharma, a former BJP spokesperson who commented on a disparage assertion about the life of the Prophet Muhammad, is one such atrocious person. Her comments caused pandemonium and people called for Nupur Sharma to be punished.

    Similar to this, in 2018 the infamous journalist from Alt News, Mohammed Zubair, published an article with offensive religious emotions, which was discovered by netizens in 2022.

    In that tweet he has shared over the previous four years, he makes disparaging remarks about Hindu deities, adding gasoline to the flames. As a result, again we could encounter Hindu-Muslim conflict all over Indian News networks impulsively spread hoaxes over the world in an effort to capture the public’s attention and believe that doing so is a good idea.

    As a result of causing mayhem in the community, they either end up behind bars or get killed in unknown circumstances.

    As far as we could tell, Mohammed Zubair, the co-founder of Alt News, was detained by Delhi Police for the following four days under sections 153-A and 294-A of the Indian Penal Code for inciting hatred and committing malicious acts with the intent to offend different religious values.

    In addition, Alt News was founded to counter inaccurate information, however, it has received criticism for being created in a Hinduphobic manner.

    Following his tweet from 2018, Zubair was detained on June 27, 2020, by the Delhi criminal branch on suspicion of allegedly hurting religious emotions. The co-founder of Alt News was given 4-day remand by Delhi police on June 28, 2022, following a day of questioning. After a day in police custody had passed, Zubair was brought before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Snigdha Savaria.

    Another case has been filed against him in a 2020 case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POSCO), police are investigating Zubair after he shared a picture of a young girl whose face was obscured after an online argument with her father. The National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) brought a claim against Zubair in connection with this issue in 2020.

    Mohammed Zubair – Awards and Recognitions

    The Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) has included Indian novelist and activist Harsh Mander, his campaign Karwan-e-Mohabbat, and the co-founders of Alt News Mohammed Zubair and Pratik Sinha in its annual nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize.

    Malini Agarwal | Founder of MissMalini Entertainment
    Read all about Malini Agarwal, an Indian entrepreneur, who started her own blogging platform, MissMalini.com. She is a blogger, digital influencer and a former RJ.
    StartupTalkyMegha Rani

    FAQs

    Who is Mohammed Zubair?

    Mohammed Zubair is the co-founder of an Indian non-profit fact-checking website named Alt News. He is a well-known Indian journalist, who has exposed much fake news to the public regardless of the consequences.

    Why was Mohammed Zubair arrested?

    Besides his journalism, Zubair was so open about certain controversial issues, which as a result got him arrested in 2022. The Delhi Police detained Zubair regarding his Hinduphobia tweet in 2018.

    What are Zubair’s achievements?

    In 2022, the Alt News co-founders, Pratik Sinha and Mohammed Zubair, alongside influential people, were nominated for Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO) in its yearly shortlist for the Nobel Peace Prize.

  • Vineet Gupta: Empirical Success Story of Founder of Ashoka University

    Vineet Gupta, Founder of Ashoka and Plaksha University has made a name for himself in the higher education ecosystem of the country over the last 25 years. A passionate educator and institution builder, Vineet has been advocating for high-quality education in India, building world-class institutions and helping train thousands of students for better careers.

    Graduating as a mechanical engineer from IIT Delhi in 1991, Vineet realized quite early that his true calling was entrepreneurship and he set up and scaled a packaging firm which manufactured styrofoam. In 1996, he co-founded Jamboree Education with his wife Akrita Kalra. Jamboree started with one centre in Vasant Vihar to help students crack exams such as GMAT, SAT and GRE which are required to study abroad. Today, it has close to 36 centers across India and Nepal and has trained over 1.5 lakh students in the last 25 years.

    The idea behind Ashoka University

    At Jamboree, Vineet, while interacting with the students, would find that bright students with 90% plus marks would struggle to make it to a regular degree in Delhi University but would get admission to some outstanding universities abroad. Moreover, the choice of courses available abroad was vast. “Somewhere, it made me feel that our higher education system is letting our students down. We are in dire need of institutions that fulfill the requirement of these students so that they could continue their education closer to home instead of going abroad,” adds Vineet Gupta.

    Forming Ashoka University

    Joining hands with a few like-minded entrepreneurs and visionaries in 2006, Vineet Gupta started thinking about setting up a top-notch university in India. The group approached several state governments for land and then settled on Haryana due to its proximity to Delhi. In 2008, the economic crisis happened and the sentiment of the business community mellowed. The group decided to start a post graduate program called the Young India Fellowship in a rented campus in Delhi to try their model of multi-disciplinary education. The group also decided to focus their efforts on building a Liberal Arts university that focuses on social sciences, humanities and sciences. The idea was to establish an institution that could compete with Ivy League institutions. Gradually, the founding group grew to about 15 individuals and the university opened in 2014 in Sonepat with the first undergraduate class of 126 students and 200 Young India Fellows. Ashoka is a collective philanthropy institution and today, has over 150 donors. In a short span of time, it has also established itself as one of the finest institutions in the country. Vineet played a pivotal role in setting up Ashoka by also being the Founding Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University from 2014 to 2017.

    The emergence of Brand Ashoka

    The model of collective philanthropy is the first of its kind in India. Ashoka has also attracted some of the best faculty from India and abroad. Ashoka also offers liberal scholarships and has students from all states of India and from all socio-economic backgrounds. Ashoka has been hailed as “India’s answer to the Ivy League”, by the National media. In 2019, Education World ranked Ashoka 2nd amongst 100 private universities in India. In 2020, The Department of Economics, Ashoka University was ranked 1st in India out of 239 institutions by RePEc – the International Database of Economics Research which covers 8198 institutions and 60355 registered authors worldwide. As per QS World University Rankings 2022, Ashoka University is amongst the top 250 in Asia. Ashoka University has collaborations with some of the world’s best institutes such as Yale University, University of Cambridge, University of Michigan and the National University of Singapore amongst others. The University has also established several centers of research which encourage students to collaborate with their peers on issues that challenge the world.

    With the emergence of Ashoka as a top name in higher education, Vineet Gupta has become a known face in India’s education ecosystem. After the success at Ashoka, Vineet Gupta went on to establish Plaksha University at Mohali, with the aim of re-imagining technology education in India. Plaksha is also built on a model of collective philanthropy and aims to make technology education inter-disciplinary and experiential. Plaksha opened in 2021 and is likely to emerge as a top engineering and technology university in the country. As the Founding Chair of the Board of Trustees at Plaksha, Vineet has played a pivotal role in setting up the institution. He is a distinguished member of the education committee at FICCI and also serves as the Co-Chair of the Education Sub Committee of ASSOCHAM. Vineet was also awarded the Edupreneur of the Year Award (2021-22) by APAC in their 2nd Education and Skill Conclave.

  • Pierre Omidyar – The Philanthropist Who Founded the Biggest Online Auction Site

    Pierre Omidyar is an American Entrepreneur and a software engineer who founded the successful online auction platform, eBay in 1995. He was the Chairman of the company from 1998 to 2015. He soon became a billionaire as soon as eBay issued an Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 1998. As of 2021, he has an estimated net worth of $21.4billion and is said to be the 24th richest person in the world.

    In 2010, he launched an investigative news service, Honolulu Civil Beat. He created a journalism venture called First Look Media in 2014. As a Philanthropist, he and his wife cordially founded Omidyar Network in 2004 with an aim to expand their efforts beyond non-profits to include for-profits and public policy, which would serve the purpose of the philanthropic investment firm.

    Pierre Omidyar- Biography

    Name Pierre Morad Omidyar / Parviz Morad Omidyar
    Born 21 June 1967
    Birthplace Paris, France
    Age 55 (2022)
    Nationality American
    Education Tufts University
    Profession Entrepreneur; Software Engineer; Software Engineer
    Known for Founder of eBay; Founder of Honolulu Civil Beat; Founder of Omidyar Network; Founder of First Look Media
    Net worth $21.8 billion (2022)

    Pierre Omidyar – Personal Life
    Pierre Omidyar – Education
    Pierre Omidyar – Professional Life
    Pierre Omidyar – Founder of eBay
    Pierre Omidyar – Founder of Omidyar Network
    Pierre Omidyar – Founder of Honolulu Civil Beat
    Pierre Omidyar – Founder of First Look Media
    Pierre Omidyar – Honors & Awards

    Pierre Omidyar – Personal Life

    Pierre was born to Iranian parents, who migrated to France for higher studies. He grew up in Paris and was formerly named Parvez. His father, Cyrus Omidyar is a surgeon, who currently practices in Aliso Viejo, California.

    His mother, Elane Mir-Djalali is an academic who earned her doctorate in linguistics at the Sorbonne. The family shifted to the US owing to his father’s job location, as he initially worked as an urologist at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.

    He married Pamela Karr, who is also one of the co-founder of his philanthropic firm, Omidyar Network. He is also a benefactor to the US Democratic Party candidates and organizations. In 2010, he joined Bill Gates and Warren Buffet’s “giving pledge”. He publicly committed to giving the majority of his wealth for charitable causes and becoming a philanthropist.

    “When you create wealth in a short time, you think about philanthropy as you think about a business.” –Pierre Omidyar

    Pierre Omidyar – Education

    Pierre completed his elementary studies from Punahou School in Honolulu and he currently serves on its Board of Trustees. He took a great interest in computers while studying in ninth-grade at The Potomac School in McLean, Virginia. He graduated from St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, Maryland in 1984.

    He completed his bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Tufts University, Massachusetts in 1988. During his undergraduate years, he also studied at the University of California.

    Pierre Omidyar – Professional Life

    After completing his studies, Pierre went to work for Claris, a subsidiary of Apple Computer. He worked there on the team that upgraded MacDraw to MacDraw II. He co-founded a pen-based computing startup, Ink Development in 1991. However, his startup was later re-branded as an e-commerce firm with the new name of eShop Incorporation. The company was acquired by Microsoft on 11 June, 1996 for less than $50 million and he earned $1 million from the deal.

    Pierre Omidyar- Founder of eBay

    eBay logo
    eBay logo

    Pierre established his e-commerce company, eBay in 1995. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California. At age 28, he started coding for an online venture that would enable a direct person-to-person auction for collectable items. On 4 September 1995, he launched the online auction service called Auction Web which eventually became the auction site eBay.

    By 1996, he signed a licensed deal of selling airline tickets online. It hosted two million auctions within the first month. By 1997, he renamed the company from Auction Web to eBay and was strategic enough with effective advertising.

    He served as the Chairman of the company from 1998 to 2015. He also served as the Board member of eBay till 2020. Omidyar was named under the billionaires after eBay launched its IPO  successfully in September 1998.

    The company bought an online payment company, PayPal in 2002. However, the payment firm spun-off and currently Omidyar owns 6% of it. In 2020, he stepped down from the Board of eBay owing to his involvement of a broader overhaul of the company. At eBay, he will continue to serve as director emeritus, which is an honorary title.

    Pierre Omidyar – Founder of Omidyar Network

    Omidyar network Logo
    Omidyar network Logo

    Pierre and his wife, Pamela established his philanthropic investment firm, Omidyar Network in 2004. The organization aims at improving the lives of people by creating opportunities and enhancing the power of markets. It basically invests in innovative organizations to beget economic, social and political change.

    Reportedly, it has committed more than $992 million to nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies that stimulate economic advancement and revitalize individual participation across multiple investment areas.

    Mr. and Mrs. Omidyar along with Richard Branson had established the Nduna Foundation (Founder- Amy Robbins), Enterprise Zimbabwe in 2010. He further established Luminate, a global philanthropic organization in 2018. After governing it for ten years, Omidyar separated the organization into a separate unit.

    Pierre Omidyar – Founder of Honolulu Civil Beat

    Honolulu Civil Beat
    Honolulu Civil Beat

    Pierre has been involved in online journalism since 2010,  and he is serving as the head of investigative reporting and public affairs news service, Honolulu Civil Beat which covered civic affairs in Hawaii. The venture later partnered with HuffPost with the latest weblog regional addition, HuffPost Hawaii. Starting a media company of his own and providing people with real facts was his aim.

    The news outlet is all about providing people all the news related to public affairs. All the public issues that outlet report has only one aim and that is to educate people  and the community and make them aware of all kind of situations.

    Pierre Omidyar – Founder of First Look Media

    First Look Media Logo
    First Look Media Logo

    Pierre Omidyar founded this media organisation in the year 2013 with the only goal in his mind to empower independent journalists and make their voices heard. It is a nonprofit organisation that focuses on investigative journalism and documentary filmmaking.

    Omidyar started this project and promised to provide funds of $250 million and decided to aid different publications. The organisation started the journey of supporting publications by launching The Intercept. Not only that, First Look Media started producing podcasts as well.

    Omidyar focus through First Look Media was to hold the importance of freedom of expression and freedom of the press. Pierre Omidyar decided to develop the organisation in such a way that the media will provide information to the audience in a way of storytelling.

    Pierre Omidyar – Honors & Awards

    • Received the Honorary doctorate from Tufts University in 2011
    • Bestowed with the EY Entrepreneur of The Year National Winner in 1999
    • Conferred with the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement in 2000
    • He was named the 2018’s Third Most Influential French Entrepreneur by Richtopia

    FAQ

    What is the Net worth of eBay owner Pierre Omidyar?

    As of 2021, the net worth of Pierre Omidyar is $21.4billion.

    Pierre Omidyar is the founder of what ecommerce platform?

    Pierre Omidyar co-founded a pen-based computing startup, Ink Development in 1991. However, his startup was later re-branded as an e-commerce firm with the new name of eShop Incorporation.

    Why did Pierre Omidyar create eBay?

    Pierre Omidyar created an online auction site to help his wife trade and collect Pez candy dispensers.

    How does eBay make money?

    eBay makes its money from the section on transaction fees, which it applies to sellers.