Zomato’s Deepinder Goyal Becomes Billionaire as Shares Surge Over 300%
Deepinder Goyal, Zomato's co-founder and CEO, became a billionaire when Zomato shares increased by more than 300% since last year.
Zomato’sMoneycontrol reported that co-founder and CEO Deepinder Goyal became a billionaire after the Company’s shares surged over 300% since last year, reaching a current market cap of ₹1.8 lakh crore.
Goyal, 41, has also become India’s richest professional manager, with his net worth skyrocketing past ₹8,300 crore.
Background and Founding of Zomato:
Deepinder Goyal, who initially hailed from a middle-class background, co-founded food delivery giant Zomato in 2008, initially calling it ‘Foodiebay,’ along with Pankaj Chaddah at a time when both worked at Bain & Company as analysts, according to an Inc42 article. Both were graduates of IIT Delhi, with Goyal specializing in Mathematics and Computing.
Foodiebay became the largest restaurant directory in Delhi-NCR within just nine months and was renamed Zomato after two years. The company eventually received investments from prominent firms such as Info Edge India, Sequoia, Vy Capital, Singapore-based Temasek, and Alibaba’s Ant Financial.
The company became a unicorn in 2018-19 following Ant Financial’s $200 million investment. The same year, Pankaj Chaddah left the company.
Deepinder Goyal Stake in Zomato:
Goyal currently holds 3.95 crore shares in Zomato, amounting to a 4.24% stake in the food delivery company. The company also owns quick commerce giant Blinkit.
Factors Behind Zomato’s Share Price Surge
The rise of Blinkit was one of the primary reasons for the Zomato share rally. Moneycontrol cited a recent Goldman Sachs note that said Blinkit now has a higher implied value than Zomato’s core food delivery business. Blinkit is currently valued at $13 billion.
Zomato had acquired it in 2022 for $568 million, having owned around 10% of the company since the year prior. It is now growing faster than its competitors like Swiggy’s Instamart and Zepto.
Zomato’sThe Economic Times reported that share prices hit an all-time high of ₹232 on the Bombay Stock Exchange on Monday after the food delivery aggregator announced a platform fee hike of ₹6 per order for markets like Delhi and Bangalore.
Zomato shares were trading at ₹227.75 on the Bombay Stock Exchange as of July 15, 11:45 A.M., a 2.38% increase from the previous day.
