India Rich List: Sanjeev Bikchandani, edging upward

Sanjeev Bikhchandani

Sanjeev Bikhchandani, co-founder of internet company Info Edge (India), debuts on the list with a $2.1 billion fortune thanks to a nearly 70 percent stock surge over the past year. The pandemic meant fewer listings on the company’s classifieds websites, including Naukri.com, India’s largest job site by traffic share, cutting net sales by 10 percent to ₹2.8 billion ($38 million) in the first quarter ending in June. In response, the Noida-based firm trimmed spending to recover from a year-earlier loss and posted a consolidated net profit of ₹937 million. 

After getting an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Bikhchandani started Info Edge to do salary surveys for human resources managers in 1990, adding online recruitment seven years later. Info Edge later launched sites for education, matchmaking and real estate. Today the company also invests in startups, holding stakes in two Indian unicorns: Insurance site Policybazaar and food delivery app Zomato.