Nykaa : Falguni Nayar becomes India's richest self-made promoter.

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Falguni Nayar, the Chief Executive Officer of Nykaa, has entered the list of India's richest after the beauty and fashion retailer's blockbuster debut on bourses. According to reports, she became India's wealthiest self-made businesswoman. Her net worth surged to Rs 56,600 crore Wednesday after the shares of FSN E-Commerce, Nykaa's parent entity, were listed with a premium of over 80 percent over the issue price. At the top limit of the price range, the company was valued at Rs 5,352 crore. Nykaa shares extended gains to the tune of 79 percent, listing at Rs 2,018 on the National Stock Exchange.

The company is India's first woman-led unicorn to hit the exchanges. The company's market cap promptly surged to Rs 1 lakh crore, surpassing the likes of Bharat Petroleum, Godrej Consumer, InterGlobe Aviation, Britannia, and Dr. Reddy's. Nayar, who owns half of Nykaa, was formerly an investment banker at AF Ferguson & Co. She has also worked at Kotak Mahindra Bank as the Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Investment Bank and Director at Kotak Securities. In 2012, she launched Nykaa months after hitting 50. Since then, the company has grown into India's leading beauty platform, the only online platform that makes a profit, a rarity for an internet startup. It boasts over 1,500 brands including luxury labels like Bobbi Brown and Estee Lauder.

It has opened over 68 offline stores. The company has posted revenues to the tune of Rs 1,860 crore in FY20. Nayar owns her stake via two family trusts and seven promoter entities. She was one of Asia's Power Businesswomen 2019, according to Forbes Asia. She has awards like Business Person of the Year 2019 (Vogue India) EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2019 (Ernst & Young). At 11 am, Nykaa shares underwent some profit booking, slumping 4 percent to trade at Rs 2,110 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

The stock was up over 5 percent from its issue price of Rs 2,001. Nayar is not like any other CEO of a company. She is not a social media person and took the entrepreneurial plunge in 2012 when she was nearly 50. In fact, ever since Nykaa was founded, she has tweeted just once in nine years. "I think being active on social media requires a huge amount of time and effort. And I am someone who spends my time a little differently. Numbers really motivate me and if I am sitting in front of a spreadsheet I spend a lot of time on it. I believe in social media, it is just that I can't keep up with it," Falguni Nayar said in an interview.

Falguni Nayar made headlines on Wednesday after the share price of her business Nykaa almost doubled upon listing. Nayar's stake is now worth over $6.5 billion, making her one of the richest female entrepreneurs in India. Falguni Nayar, born and raised in a Gujarati family, is a graduate of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Her father ran a small bearings company. Before starting Nykaa, Nayar worked with Kotak Mahindra Capital, where she was the managing director and head of its institutional equities business. In 2012, Nykaa started with just 60 daily orders. "We'd rather sell the right colour of lipstick at full price, than the wrong shade at half off, which would make the buyer unhappy within minutes of wearing it," Nayar told. India's wealthiest self-made woman billionaire has proved that gender, age, background, and education are no bar to become an entrepreneur.

Speaking of starting her journey at 50, Nayar told media officials , "I feel women put constraints in their minds which are not so necessary. Today, many women are managing their businesses cum young children. I don't think there is one playbook. I did it when I did it, and I am glad that I at least tried it when I tried it." Being a person who doesn't wear her emotions on her sleeve, the steller debut in the stock market saw Nayar "feel an emotion that was quite strong". "Any entrepreneurship needs a lot of passion, hard work, conviction, and time. When I started, if I thought I would be here in three years or five years, it wouldn't happen. It needs long innings. Somehow, I was very clear that I would need 10 years plus, and that is why I started before I turned 50," she told media officials.

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