What’s the story
Aravind Srinivas, the co-founder and CEO of AI firm Perplexity, has been named India’s youngest billionaire by the M3M Hurun India Rich List 2025.
The Chennai-born entrepreneur achieved this milestone at just 31 years of age with a staggering net worth of ₹21,190 crore.
His success story highlights India’s transition from a services-driven economy to one focused on deep-tech and product innovation.
Perplexity AI: A search engine revolution
Founded in 2022 by Srinivas and his colleagues Denis Yarats, Johnny Ho, and Andy Konwinski, Perplexity AI is a conversational AI-powered search engine.
The company competes with tech giants like Google and OpenAI.
Under Srinivas’s leadership, Perplexity has emerged as a major player in the AI space, revolutionizing search technology on a global scale.
From IIT Madras to Silicon Valley
Srinivas was born and raised in Chennai, where he studied Electrical Engineering at IIT Madras.
He later earned a PhD in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
His academic and professional career took him through some of the world’s leading AI research labs such as OpenAI, Google, and DeepMind before he co-founded Perplexity AI three years ago.
Funding and acquisition buzz
Since its inception, Perplexity AI has attracted significant investments from global tech leaders and venture capitalists, including Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
The company has also drawn buyout interest from tech giants like Apple and Meta.
However, Srinivas is determined to keep Perplexity independent with plans for an IPO after 2028.
Youngest billionaire in India
At 31, Srinivas is the youngest Indian to make it to this year’s billionaire club with his net worth of ₹21,190 crore.
He joins other young entrepreneurs such as Zepto founders Kaivalya Vohra (22, ₹4,480 crore) and Aadit Palicha (23, ₹5,380 crore).
Notably, Vohra and Palicha are not yet dollar billionaires but have a high net worth.
Billionaire boom in India
India now has a record 358 billionaires, according to the Hurun report, with 1,687 individuals each worth over ₹1,000 crore.
Together, their wealth totals ₹167 lakh crore, nearly half of the country’s GDP.
On average, India’s wealthy added ₹1,991 crore in net worth daily, and over the past two years, the nation has seen one new billionaire emerge every week.