Ritesh Agarwal

Ritesh Agarwal is an Indian entrepreneur, billionaire and the founder and CEO of Oyo Rooms.

Ritesh Agarwal
Agarwal in 2019
Born (1993-11-16) 16 November 1993
Bissam Cuttack Rayagada, Odisha
OccupationCEO and Founder of OYO
Years active2012–present
OrganizationOYO Rooms
TitleGroup CEO OF OYO Rooms

Early years

Ritesh Agarwal was born in Bissam Cuttack, in Odisha state, India and brought up in Titilagarh.[1][2][3][4][5] At the age of 13, he started selling SIM cards.[6] He graduated from St. Johns Senior Secondary School and moved to Delhi in 2011 for college.[7] He dropped out of college, and was selected for the Peter Thiel Fellowship in 2013.[8][9]

Career

Agarwal started a budget accommodation portal, Oravel Stays, for booking budget hotels.[10][11] It was accepted into the accelerator program by Venture Nursery in September 2012, and later was one of the winners of the 2013 Thiel Fellowship program, receiving a grant of $100,000.[12][13] The company was launched as OYO Rooms in May 2013.[14][15][16]

By September 2018, the company raised $1 billion.[17] In July 2019 it was reported that Agarwal purchased $2 billion in shares in the company, tripling his stake.[18][19][20] His net worth in 2020 was estimated to be approximately $1.1 billion (INR 7253 crore) according to Hurun Rich List 2020. He is currently the second youngest self-made billionaire in the world.[21]

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References
  1. "Here are 6 interesting facts you didn't know about OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  2. 6 Oct, TNN | Updated; 2015; Ist, 17:19. "21-Yr-Old Start-Up Entrepreneur Ritesh Agarwal Started By Selling SIM Cards In Rayagada". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. "His ₹30 lakh stake in Oyo would have been thousands of crores today but..." livemint. 25 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  4. Chengappa, Sangeetha. "For OYO's Ritesh Agarwal, there is more room for growth". @businessline. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  5. "OYO raises $1 billion fund: How 24-year-old Ritesh Agarwal turned his idea into India's second most valuable start-up". Firstpost. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  6. "SIM card seller, college dropout, millionaire at 22: Boy from Naxal area scripts incredible story". The Economic Times. 25 June 2018. Archived from the original on 13 May 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  7. Jr, Bernd Debusmann. "Too many entrepreneurs give up, says Oyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal". ArabianBusiness.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  8. Gilchrist, Karen (30 January 2019). "Peter Thiel's advice helped this 25-year-old build one of India's most valuable start-ups". CNBC. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  9. Nair, Radhika P. (11 May 2013). "Ritesh Agarwal, a young Indian entrepreneur selected for 'Thiel Fellowship'". The Economic Times. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  10. "If you meet a 17- or 18-year-old entrepreneur, just invest in their firm". 9 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  11. "Ritesh Agarwal's Cayman based firm to bring funds to Oyo". The Economic Times. 17 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  12. Menon, Rashmi (19 August 2015). "Meet OYO Rooms' Ritesh Agarwal: The dropout who dined with Peter Thiel". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  13. Bergen, Mark (10 May 2013). "Oravel founder Ritesh Agarwal wins Thiel Fellowship". Livemint. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  14. "Ritesh Agarwal's OYO, SoftBank set up investment vehicle, seek CCI approval for increasing stake in Oravel Stays". The Financial Express. 16 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  15. Gooptu, Biswarup (21 November 2018). "OYO manages more rooms in China than in India". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  16. "This is how 24 year-old Ritesh Agarwal built OYO Rooms a $5 billion hotel chain in just five years". The Financial Express. 26 September 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  17. Bloomberg, Saritha Rai (26 September 2018). "How 24-year-old Ritesh Agarwal built Oyo into a $5 billion startup in just 5 years". www.livemint.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  18. Chaudhary, Deepti (19 July 2019). "Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal to triple his stake with $2 bn share buyback". Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  19. "India's Oyo valued at $10B after founder purchases $2B in shares". TechCrunch. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  20. "OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal to buy back shares from early investors for USD 2 bn - Times of India". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  21. Agarwal, Nikhil (27 February 2020). "Oyo's Ritesh Agarwal is the world's second youngest self-made billionaire". Livemint. Retrieved 28 March 2020.
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