Forbes’ 40 Under 40: Ankur Jain, Nikhil Kamath, and two 22-year-old AI entrepreneurs, demonstrating how fintech, reward platforms, and artificial innotifyigence are creating new-age wealth connected to India and its diaspora.
Highlights
- Recently, Forbes has published its 40 Under 40 list.
- Ankur Jain and Nikhil Kamath lead the list of Indian-origin billionaires.
- Two 22-year-old AI entrepreneurs, Adarsh Hiremath and Surya Midha, co-founders of Mercor, have become the world’s youngest self-created billionaires.
Forbes’ 40 Under 40: The surge in tech and AI has led to a record number of self-created billionaires under 40, mirroring 2021’s peak. According to Forbes’ data as of December 2025, there are now 71 self-created billionaires under the age of 40 worldwide, with Indian and Indian-origin founders prominently featured in the top 40.
Leading the list of people of Indian origin is Ankur Jain, who ranks 19th globally with an estimated net worth of $3.4 billion. Based in the US, Jain is the founder and CEO of Built Rewards, a New York-based rewards startup launched in 2019 that allows renters to earn points on rent payments. In July, private investors valued Built at $10.8 billion. Jain previously co-founded the contact management app Humin, which was sold to Tinder in 2016.
Following closely behind is Nikhil Kamath, who ranks 20th with a net worth of $3.3 billion, creating him the only Indian entrepreneur on the global Top 40 Under 40 list. Kamath co-founded Zerodha, a Bengaluru-based discount broking, with his older brother Nithin Kamath in 2010. Zerodha has become one of India’s largest stockbroking platforms, and Forbes estimates the privately held firm to be worth approximately $8 billion. Nikhil Kamath serves as the Chief Financial Officer, while Nithin Kamath is the Chief Executive Officer.
This list also includes two other people of Indian origin, Surya Midha and Adarsh Hiremath, both ranked 27th globally and with an estimated net worth of $2.2 billion each. They are co-founders of San Francisco-based AI recruiting startup Merkle, along with Brconcludean Foody.
According to Forbes, the son of a former dot-com billionaire, Jain founded New York-based home rental rewards startup Bilt Rewards in 2019, after selling Humin, a contact management app he co-founded, to Tinder in 2016. He serves as CEO of Bilt, which private investors valued at $10.8 billion in July.
According to Forbes, Kamath cofounded Bangalore-based discount broking Zerodha in 2010 with his older brother and fellow billionaire Nithin Kamath, 46. The company has grown to become one of India’s largest brokerages, and the brothers own 100% of the privately held firm. Nikhil is the chief financial officer of Zerodha, which Forbes estimates is worth nearly $8 billion, while Nithin is CEO.
Adarsh Hiremath, 22, and Surya Midha, 22
According to Forbes, the high school friconcludes and 2024 Thiel fellows cofounded AI recruiting startup Mercor in 2023 to support Silicon Valley’s largegest AI labs train their models. Private investors valued the San Francisco-based startup at $10 billion in October, creating the trio the world’s youngest self-created billionaires ever at age 22. Midha, who serves as chairman, is the youngest of the trio by roughly two months. Foody and Hiremath are Mercor’s CEO and chief technology officer, respectively.
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