Bhavish Aggarwal, one of the world’s youngest billionaires who’s been likened to Elon Musk, more than doubled his wealth thanks to a big bet on an electric scooter company, Bloomberg reports.
The 38-year-old Indian entrepreneur is still worth a fraction of Elon Musk’s wealth. But he added $1.5 billion to his net worth after his company, Ola Electric, went public on Friday — bringing his total wealth to $2.7 billion. 53-year-old Elon Musk’s wealth is over $200 billion. But Musk didn’t become a billionaire until after 40.
Ola Electric raised $733 million in its IPO, making it India’s biggest in two years. The company’s shares rose 20% in post-IPO trading, raising its value to $4.8 billion, CNBC reports. Aggarwal has branded Ola Electric in a similar way to Tesla, as a vertically-integrated company that designs and manufactures its scooters and batteries.
Ola Electric started in 2017 and launched its first actual product in 2021. It’s backed by big investors including Japan’s Softbank. It hasn’t been without its issues: a long wait time for deliveries after initial launch, a toxic workplace culture due to Aggarwal’s outbursts, a series of fire incidents, and a big recall.
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