The Hurun Indian Rich List 2025 remarkably foregrounded Shah Rukh Khan‘s fame as a profitable entity merely days ago. As per the 14th edition of the list, published by M3M India in collaboration with the Hurun Research Institute, the Bollywood Badshah entered the billionaire club for the first time, becoming the richest actor in the world.
SRK and his family topped the Wealthiest Bollywood Icons 2025 list with an estimated net worth of Rs 12,490 crores ($1.4 billion). Although conquering the acting scene came easily to him, the Romance King was still significantly toppled by both Physics Wallah co-founders.
PhysicsWallah co-founder Prateek Maheshwari also beats SRK’s net worth
Reigning as some of the fastest wealth creators in 2025, both Alakh Pandey and Prateek Maheshwari soared high with a 223% change in the net worth. The substantial boost pushed their wealth to 14,520 crores each. Although the ed-tech company is often synonymously associated with Pandey’s name, Maheshwari is just as indispensable to the brand’s existence.
With his origins tracing back to a small town in Rajasthan, Prateek Maheshwari is now behind a company whose total revenue rose to Rs 2,886 crore in the 2024-25 FY, jumping from its previous Rs 1,940 crore-mark. And now, he has himself shot past the King of Hearts with an unimaginable net worth increase despite the company registering a net loss. Contrary to its soaring revenue levels, the company did in fact report a loss of Rs 243 crore in FY25 compared to Rs 1,131 crore in FY24.
About Prateek Maheshwari – PhysicsWallah and more
The Indian tech leader came onboard the Physics Wallah ride in 2020, and partnered with Alakh Pandey to “democratise education at scale in India.” With nearly two decades of experience in setting up tech-based companies, Maheshwari is backed by an impressive academic background.
Having secured his Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Mechanical Engineering from IIT (BHU), Varanasi, he is also listed as the founder of companies like PenPencil and Night Panda.
After his involvement in PhysicsWallah, the company attained unicorn status in June 2022, acquiring a valuation of $1.1 billion. With Maheshwari helming product and technology issues, the Ajmer entrepreneur stood tall as the quiet genius behind PW’s YouTube-to-app switch, consolidating its position amidst competitors like Byju’s and Unacademy.