Baiju Bhatt Biography & Net Worth

Baiju Bhatt Biography & Net Worth

Baiju Bhatt is an American billionaire businessman of Indian descent. Along with fellow entrepreneur Vladimir Tenev, Bhatt co-founded the United States-based financial services company, Robinhood.

Bhatt and his Stanford University buddy Vladimir Tenev worked together to design a stock-trading mobile application after the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests. In 2014, the roommates came up with the tech startup called Robinhood, Silicon Valley’s resolution to the growing discontent and misgiving of large financial institutions in the United States. Their invention makes trading both accessible and affordable and has witnessed a steady rise in the number of users in the last couple of years.

Using this medium, we will take you on a smooth sail through the life and success of the American techpreneur who has not only designed but also promoted one of the largest crypto and stock trading platforms the world has ever seen. Stay with us.

Early Life: Childhood, Education

He was born Baiju Prafulkumar Bhatt in 1985 in the United States as the son of Indian immigrants and was raised in Poquoson, Virginia.

He attended Stanford University for his bachelor’s degree in physics, and later earned a master’s degree in mathematics from the same institution in 2008. Bhatt and Tenev met during his time at Stanford. They were roommates and ended up creating a very special bond with each other which would later prove to be significant in the future.

Professional Life: Entrepreneurial Career

Although he sowed the seeds for future success at Stanford, Bhatt wouldn’t undertake entrepreneurship for some time. After leaving university, he and his friend Vlad Tenev first worked for several financial institutions in New York. The duo specialized in helping different companies build high-frequency trading apps, and this further encouraged them to create their own operational online trading platform. The concept was centered on the idea that professional firms and traders were paying almost zero fees to complete trades on an electronic basis. Bhatt and Tenev asked themselves a very vital question; why no one had come up with an online trading app with zero commission fees. When they couldn’t find the answer to this question, the two friends reached an unquestionable resolution to design an independent online trading platform of their own.

The social-economic circumstances at that time period was another source of inspiration for the gentlemen. Bhatt graduated from Stanford at the depth of the 2008 financial downfall, which was basically created by reckless financial systems established on a mortgage disaster that was always looming. Bhatt then witnessed the 2011 Occupy Wall Street demonstrations, and this inspired him to want to make trading more affordable and accessible for the average person.

Bhatt and Tenev officially introduced their zero-commission stock brokerage tech startup known as Robinhood in 2013, with the two former college roommates acting as co-founders and equal partners. By 2016, the app had a million users. That number would grow exorbitantly over a rather short period of time, and by 2018 it had recorded 3 million users. This growth was largely powered by a clever referral program whereby existing users were offered free stocks in exchange for introducing new users to the app.

The core mission of Bhatt’s Robinhood was to make it possible for anybody at all to invest and start earning money in the stock market. The clue is clearly in the name of the brand itself; Robin Hood was a fictitious figure who legendarily robbed from the wealthy to give to the poor.

The progress of the company saw enormous growth in the personal wealth of both Bhatt and his partner, and by 2018 both friends became billionaires. In addition, the valuation of Robinhood rose to $6 billion. Despite the stock market crash in the year 2020, trading actually amplified and more users joined the platform. Also in 2020, Robinhood raised roughly $280 million in venture funding steered by Sequoia Capital, giving the tech company a valuation of $8.3 billion. Another round of funding came when D1 Capital Partners invested about $200 million into the company.

As of 2021, Robinhood had more than 13 million registered users. The company has grown massively in less than a decade, and its co-founder, Bhatt, continues to derive wealth from the business which he leads as an executive.

Achievements: Awards & Honors

For contributing to the establishment of the world-renowned financial services providing company, Robinhood, Baiju Bhatt has won a lot of well-deserved appreciation and respect, as well as admiration from millions of people around the world, particularly those who have benefited from his startup venture in one way or another. While there are currently no official honors attached to his persona, this man takes pride in the fact that his creativity led to the design and development of a product that is currently being enjoyed by many in almost every part of the world.

Due to his intelligence, Bhatt was invited as a speaker to deliver a lecture at Disrupt SF 2018 where he talked about investing, announcing his plans to launch an IPO for Robinhood by 2019.

Personal Life: Wife Children, Private Interests

Baiju Bhatt is a married man and a proud dad to one child. He lives in Palo Alto, California, but travels around the world on vacation with his family.

He is inclined to helping the underprivileged in the society and always makes sure to lend a helping hand whenever called upon.

Baiju Bhatt Net Worth: Salary, Earnings, Income Sources, Shares

The Indian-American entrepreneur was literally a nobody before he came to the limelight following his creation of an online trading company known as Robinhood. Born to immigrant parents from India, he attended Stanford University where he met Tenev. The two men were classmates who both eventually became wealthy thanks to their unique invention, Robinhood.

Baiju Bhatt’s net worth is pegged at $1 billion. His rise to fame saw controversy when in 2021, his company came under scrutiny as a result of the scandalous Gamestop debacle, where the online trading platform was accused of market manipulation by several financial experts and political commentators.