Hurun Rich List 2026: Shah Rukh Khan, a Bollywood billionaire like no other, is a blockbuster actor, but also a strategic businessman. Becoming the first actor in the industry to enter the club, he set foot in the 1 per cent segment in 2025. However, young Indian entrepreneurs across industries, from fintech to hospitality, have entered the charts to disrupt the balance.
As per a recent release from Hurun India, the Global Rich List revealed that several of these billionaire entrepreneurs have surpassed Shah Rukh Khan’s $1.3 billion net worth. There were 57 new Indian entrants on the list, which tells the bigger picture of the expanding entrepreneur segment.
Shah Rukh Khan, a billionaire – But new techie entrants, bigger
According to the Hurun Global Rich List 2026, among the notable new entrants to the list are entrepreneurs who have built businesses by tapping into India’s vast consumer base. Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari, the founders of the online learning platform Physics Wallah, each debuted with an estimated net worth of about $1.7 billion. Their rise underscores the scale of opportunity in India’s mass-market education sector, where millions of students across cities and smaller towns are turning to affordable digital learning platforms to prepare for competitive exams and improve academic outcomes.
Hospitality entrepreneur Ritesh Agarwal, the founder of budget hotel network OYO, also joined the list with a net worth of around $1.6 billion, reflecting the company’s expansion across global markets and its efforts to reinvent the budget accommodation segment. As he ranked higher than the Bollywood star, Shah Rukh Khan entered the rankings with an estimated fortune of $1.3 billion, highlighting how decades of success in films, combined with investments, brand endorsements and business ventures.
Who is Ritesh Agarwal?
The youngest billionaire from India, Ritesh Agarwal, is the founder and CEO of OYO Rooms. With a net worth of more than Rs 14,000 crore, he holds a 33 per cent stake in the hospitality startup. It reported an annual profit of Rs 229 crore, with its parent company, PRISM, listed with the National Stock Exchange.
Agarwal, in 2013, became the first Indian to win the Thiel Fellowship and received a $100,000. He dropped out of college and built Oravel Stays, which later pivoted to OYO Rooms. Years later, becoming an investor himself, appeared on Shark Tank India and impressed viewers and industry members with his calm demeanour.
He has backed early-stage startups like Unacademy, Cars24, and lifestyle brands like Culture Circle. Based out of Odisha, he comes from a Marwari business family. With a zeal to dream big, he started selling SIM cards in his hometown when he was just 13, and it all fueled his hustle for his billionaire present.