Zerodha's Kamath Brothers Drew Rs 72 Crore Salary Each Last Financial Year

Zerodha founders Nithin and Nikhil Kamath collectively drew ₹195.4 crore as compensation in the last financial year (FY2022-23) with each of them receiving Rs 72 crore as their annual salary, reported Entrackr.

Seema Patil, whole-time director at Zerodha and wife of CEO Nithin Kamath, received a remuneration of Rs 36 crore. Chief Operating Officer Venu Madhav took home Rs 15.4 crore.

Back in FY22, the board approved a maximum of Rs 100 crore for three directors, clarifying it wasn’t their actual salary but a cap for liquidity and risk needs.

I’m surprised by the unwanted noise around this whole salary news of @nikhilkamathcio, Seema (my wife), & me. The headlines are misleading. We are a private company & no obligations to clarify, but we thought maybe we should, as there are folks who are misinterpreting this. 1/7

— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) May 30, 2021

Zerodha’s employee benefits cost rose by 35.7% to Rs 623 crore in FY23, including a total salary payout of Rs 380 crore, with Rs 236 crore allocated for ESOPs settled in cash.  

Zerodha’s Financial Dominance in FY23

Zerodha stands out as the most lucrative entity in India’s startup landscape. The broking firm, headquartered in Bengaluru, disclosed revenues of ₹6,875 crore in FY23, reflecting a substantial 38.5% increase compared to Rs 4,964 crore in FY22. The net profits also grew by 39%, going from Rs 2,094 crore to Rs 2,907 crore. 

With a company valuation of Rs 30,000 crore, approximately 10 times its annual profit, the Kamath brothers have claimed the top spot in remuneration among Indian startup founders. 

Despite facing consecutive technical issues in recent months, Zerodha maintains its position as a market leader. Nithin Kamath publicly apologized on social media platform X for the recent tech issues, acknowledging the impact on 5% to 20% of their active customers. 

In the business updates post I shared in August this year, I mentioned how we hadn’t had any large tech issues for a couple of years. Unfortunately, we have had two episodes in quick succession in the last two months, affecting between 5 and 20% of our active customers.

The…

— Nithin Kamath (@Nithin0dha) December 5, 2023

According to Entrackr, Groww has now taken the lead among stockbroking platforms, surpassing Zerodha in number of active users. As of September 2023, Groww boasted 6.63 million active users, exceeding Zerodha’s 6.48 million, as per National Stock Exchange data.