Nithin Kamath, co-founder and CEO of Zerodha, recently revealed that he recognized his brother Nikhil Kamath's superior trading abilities during the early days of their trading ventures. This realization prompted Nithin to transition into broking while Nikhil continued to thrive as a trader.
Nithin made these comments during a recent episode of the podcast "WTF is Health," hosted by Nikhil Kamath. Reflecting on their initial foray into the industry, Nithin explained, “I quickly realized that Nikhil is a better trader than I am because, at that point in time, we were trading money and I was also managing the side hustle of broking business. In 2008-09, I thought, if he excels in trading compared to me, why not let him continue trading while I focus on broking permanently.”
As a result, the brothers joined forces and established Zerodha, which has now become the largest online stock broking platform in India. Nithin fondly recalled the humble beginnings, saying, “It started off as... I mean, it was not meant to be what it is today. I remember sending the first email, saying that if we reached 10,000 customers, we have achieved great success in life... now we have 11 million customers.”
Sharing the video on LinkedIn, Nithin said Nikhil is the “best trader I know.”
{{/usCountry}}Sharing the video on LinkedIn, Nithin said Nikhil is the “best trader I know.”
{{/usCountry}}“And yeah, Nikhil Kamath (Nik) and Nithin Kamath are two different people. It's ridiculous how many people think we are the same person😬” he wrote.
The podcast also featured actor-turned-entrepreneur Suniel Shetty and Myntra co-founder Mukesh Bansal, who currently serves as the CEO of Cult.fit.
This is not the first time that the CEO has acknowledged his brother's trading prowess. In a LinkedIn post, Nithin Kamath emphasized how their joint efforts propelled the growth of Zerodha, largely due to his brother's profitable trades.
He wrote, “Nikhil Kamath is a much better trader than me. When we started, the idea was that he would trade, and I would attempt to build Zerodha. If it didn't work, I would return to trading. However, it did work, and Nikhil continues to trade full-time. His trading profits in the first two years are what enabled us to build without venture capitalists.”