Binny Bansal
Binny Bansal | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1982/1983 Chandigarh, India |
| Occupation | Entrepreneur |
| Years active | 2007–present |
| Known for | Co-founder of Flipkart |
Binny Bansal (born 1982/1983) is an Indian billionaire and entrepreneur in the Internet sector. As of February 2024, his net worth was estimated to be around US$1.4 billion. He co-founded the e-commerce company Flipkart in 2007. Initially, he held the position of chief operating officer (COO) until January 2016, when he was elevated to chief executive officer (CEO), and subsequently became Group CEO in January 2017. Bansal stepped down in November 2018 amid allegations of personal misconduct at Flipkart. He is a principal investor in the venture capital firm 021 Capital. In 2019, he contributed to the endowment fund of the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Early life
Binny Bansal was born approximately in 1982 or 1983. His father worked as a chief manager at a bank, while his mother was employed in the government sector. Hailing from Chandigarh, the capital city of Punjab and Haryana, he attended St. Anne's Convent School, Chandigarh and pursued software programming studies at IIT Delhi. He earned his degree in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi.
Amazon
Following his graduation, Bansal joined Sarnoff Corporation before moving to Amazon as a software engineer in January 2007, where he remained for nine months. Prior to securing this role, he had been turned down twice by Google. He left Amazon to launch Flipkart.
Founding Flipkart
In 2007, Bansal co-established the e-commerce platform Flipkart alongside Sachin Bansal, who also originated from Chandigarh and studied at IIT Delhi. They combined their resources, investing $6,000 to initiate operations from their apartment. Initially contemplating a comparison search engine, they shifted focus to e-commerce after identifying its significant growth prospects within India. Before his entrepreneurial venture, Binny developed automotive lane sensor technology at Sarnoff Corporation.
CEO of Flipkart
Bansal held the role of chief operating officer until January 2016 when he was promoted to CEO. In 2017, he assumed the position of CEO for Flipkart Group while Kalyan Krishnamurthy became CEO of Flipkart's main business.
In 2018, Walmart acquired a 77% ownership stake in Flipkart for $16 billion, valuing Bansal’s 5.5% share at roughly $1 billion. After this acquisition, he served as chairman and maintained his role as Group CEO. In November 2018, he resigned following allegations of personal misconduct; Walmart’s inquiry found no proof of sexual assault but cited poor judgment related to a consensual relationship.
By January 2024, Bansal had completely exited Flipkart by selling off his shares alongside Excel and Tiger Global Management, generating $1.5 billion from the transaction with Walmart.
Investing
As of early 2025, Bansal acts as an anchor investor for venture capital firm 021 Capital, which concentrates on biotechnology, agritech, and internet industries. He also participates as an angel investor in startups including BrightCHAMPS, Virgio, Flash, Hire Quotient, and Glints.
In 2019, he invested ₹125 crores into the endowment fund at IIT Delhi. To date, he has supported approximately 47 companies across 64 funding rounds spanning seed to late-stage investments.
Awards and recognition
In September 2015, Forbes India ranked Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal as the 86th wealthiest individuals in the country, estimating their combined net worth at $1.3 billion. Two years later, in 2017, India Today featured them together at number 26 on its list of India's 50 Most Influential People.
Personal life
Binny Bansal lives in Bangalore with his wife, Trisha Bansal, who is a homemaker, along with their twin sons.