Discount broking company Zerodha’s founders, Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath, were handed a remuneration of ₹72 crore in FY23, as per filings with the Ministry Of Corporate Affairs (MCA).
Following the FY23 payout, the Kamath Brothers occupy the top spot in terms of remuneration among startup founders in India, with OYO’s Ritesh Agarwal a distant second with a salary of ₹12 crore in the previous fiscal. The directors at Zerodha, including Nikhil and Nithin Kamath, have collectively drawn nearly ₹200 crore in remuneration, as per Entrackr, which was the first to report the story.
Seema Patil, a whole-time director at Zerodha and the wife of CEO Nithin Kamath, received ₹36 crore in FY23.
In FY22, Zerodha’s board of directors passed a resolution approving a ₹100 crore salary per annum for the Kamath Brothers and Patil.
At the time,
CEO Nithin Kamath clarified that the ₹100 crore figure is not the actual salary being drawn but instead a maximum figure that promoters can draw for liquidity and risk requirements.
During FY23, the employee benefits cost for Zerodha spiked by about 35% to ₹623 crore from ₹459 crore in FY22, according to an analysis by Entrackr.
Out of the ₹623 crore spent on employee benefits in the previous fiscal, the company gave a total salary of ₹380 crore, including payouts to directors. The rest —₹236 crore—was used in ESOPs settlements.
To be noted, Zerodha is the most-profitable operator in India’s startup ecosystem.
The Bengaluru-based discount broking firm reported revenues at ₹6,875 crore in FY23, growing 38.5% from ₹4,964 crore in FY22. Its net profits grew 39% to ₹2,907 crore from ₹2,094 crore over the period.
(Edited by : Anand Singha)
