Ritesh Agarwal

This article is about an Indian entrepreneur. For bio-medical enginner/scientist, see Ritesh Agarwal (scientist).

Ritesh Agarwal
Agarwal in 2019
Born (1993-11-16) 16 November 1993 (age 30)
Bissam Cuttack, Rayagada, Orissa, India (present-day Odisha)
Occupations
Years active2012–present
OrganizationOYO Rooms
TelevisionShark Tank India (2024–)
Spouse
Geetansha Sood
​
(m. 2023)​
AwardsThiel Fellowship, Business World Young Entrepreneur Award[1]

Ritesh Agarwal (born 16 November 1993) is an Indian billionaire entrepreneur[2] and the founder and CEO of OYO Rooms.[3] He has been a panelist on Shark Tank India (season 3) in 2024.[4] As of March 2024, Agarwal's net worth is estimated to be around ₹16,000 crore.[5]

Personal life

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Ritesh Agarwal was born in a Marwari family[6] in Bissam Cuttack, Odisha, India and was brought up in Titilagarh.[7][8][9][10][11] His family operated a small shop in Rayagada, Odisha. He completed his schooling at Sacred Heart School, and later at St. John's Senior Secondary School, before moving to Delhi in 2011 for college.[12][13]

Agarwal married Geetansha Sood, a native of Lucknow, on 7 March 2023.[14][15]

Career

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In 2011, Agarwal founded an Airbnb equivalent called "Oravel Stays".[16][17] Agarwal's enterprise was accelerated through the Venture Nursery program in 2012, and was later one of the winners of the 2013 Thiel Fellowship, receiving a $100,000 grant.[18][19] The company launched as OYO Rooms in May 2013.[20][21][3]

By September 2018, the company had raised $1 billion.[22] In July 2019, it was reported that Agarwal purchased $2 billion in shares, tripling his stake in the company.[23][24][25]

He was featured on the Forbes 30 under 30 list for Asia.[26]

In 2023, Agarwal became the youngest Shark to appear on Shark Tank India[27]

Controversies

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Allegations of cheating by Oyo's co-founder

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Agarwal is accused of cheating Oyo's co-founder, Manish Sinha, during the early period of the company.[28]

Fine in the United States

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Agarwal's company, OYO, entered into agreements with hotel owners in the US, rebranding their properties under the OYO name in exchange for compensation and guaranteed income. However, OYO failed to disclose that it was not authorised to operate a franchise business in California. As a result, in March 2019, OYO was fined $200,000 by California regulators. Additionally, the company received a cease and desist order from Washington state regulators, who found that OYO had made offers to numerous hotel owners and managers, without proper registration.[29]

Allegations of fraud

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In September 2020, a case was lodged against Agarwal in Dera Bassi by a Chandigarh-based businessman, alleging fraud and conspiracy under IPC sections 420 (cheating) 120 B (criminal conspiracy).[30]

OYO faced backlash from 10,000 hotel owners in India, who claimed that OYO takes more than half of their revenues through undisclosed fees.

According to an October 2019 report, police cases were filed against OYO by hotel operators in Bangalore, Mysore, and other cities of Karnataka, accusing Agarwal of fraud. The latter, however, successfully appealed for a stay order on one case in Bangalore.[31]

Television series

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References

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  1. ^ "Ritesh Agarwal". Forbes. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
  2. ^ "From being the richest shark to having a whopping net-worth of approximately Rs 16000 crores: Lesser known facts about Shark Tank India 3's Ritesh Agarwal". The Times of India. 24 February 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b "This is how 24 year-old Ritesh Agarwal built OYO Rooms a $5 billion hotel chain in just five years". The Financial Express. 26 September 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  4. ^ Mukhopadhyay, Sounak (31 January 2024). "Ritesh Agarwal picks Bollywood actors who can be great Sharks". Mint. Retrieved 1 February 2024.
  5. ^ M, Rahul (22 February 2024). "OYO Founder Ritesh Agarwal's Net Worth Is Whopping ₹16,000 Cr, Owns Fleet Of Luxury Cars". Free Press Journal. Retrieved 17 March 2024.
  6. ^ Chowdhry, Seema; Khurana, Chanpreet (30 November 2013). "Entrepreneurs | The company of teens". Mint. Retrieved 15 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Here are 6 interesting facts you didn't know about OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal". Business Insider. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  8. ^ "21-Yr-Old Start-Up Entrepreneur Ritesh Agarwal Started By Selling SIM Cards In Rayagada". The Times of India. 6 October 2015. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  9. ^ "His ₹30 lakh stake in Oyo would have been thousands of crores today but..." livemint. 25 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  10. ^ Chengappa, Sangeetha (25 September 2018). "For OYO's Ritesh Agarwal, there is more room for growth". @businessline. Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  11. ^ "OYO raises $1 billion fund: How 24-year-old Ritesh Agarwal turned his idea into India's second most valuable start-up". Firstpost. 27 September 2018. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  12. ^ Debusmann, Bernd Jr. "Too many entrepreneurs give up, says Oyo CEO Ritesh Agarwal". ArabianBusiness.com. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  13. ^ "Ritesh Agarwal: Interesting facts about oyo founder ritesh agarwal". Business Insider.
  14. ^ "OYO boss Ritesh Agarwal ties the knot with fiancee Geetansha; Softbank CEO, Paytm boss attend reception". The Economic Times. 8 March 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  15. ^ "Who is OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal's wife, Geetansha Sood? - OYO founder's wife". The Economic Times. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
  16. ^ "If you meet a 17- or 18-year-old entrepreneur, just invest in their firm". 9 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  17. ^ "Ritesh Agarwal's Cayman based firm to bring funds to Oyo". The Economic Times. 17 July 2019. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  18. ^ Menon, Rashmi (19 August 2015). "Meet OYO Rooms' Ritesh Agarwal: The dropout who dined with Peter Thiel". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  19. ^ Bergen, Mark (10 May 2013). "Oravel founder Ritesh Agarwal wins Thiel Fellowship". Livemint. Archived from the original on 20 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  20. ^ "Ritesh Agarwal's OYO, SoftBank set up investment vehicle, seek CCI approval for increasing stake in Oravel Stays". The Financial Express. 16 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  21. ^ Gooptu, Biswarup (21 November 2018). "OYO manages more rooms in China than in India". The Economic Times. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  22. ^ Bloomberg, Saritha Rai (26 September 2018). "How 24-year-old Ritesh Agarwal built Oyo into a $5 billion startup in just 5 years". www.livemint.com. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  23. ^ Chaudhary, Deepti (19 July 2019). "Oyo founder Ritesh Agarwal to triple his stake with $2 bn share buyback". Archived from the original on 21 July 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  24. ^ "India's Oyo valued at $10B after founder purchases $2B in shares". TechCrunch. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  25. ^ "OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal to buy back shares from early investors for USD 2 bn - Times of India". The Times of India. 19 July 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  26. ^ "30 Under 30 2016 Asia: Consumer Tech". Forbes.
  27. ^ "Shark Tank Indian 3: All you need to know about 29-yr-old Ritesh Agarwal; the youngest Shark to join the panel". The Times of India.
  28. ^ Mishra, Ashish (7 January 2015). "Will the real Ritesh Agarwal please stand up". Mint. Retrieved 24 October 2021.
  29. ^ Jeans, David (23 April 2020). "Softbank-Backed Hotel Unicorn Oyo Faces Regulatory Smackdown In Multiple U.S. States". Forbes. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  30. ^ "Oyo founder booked for fraud, company refutes charges". Hindustan Times. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  31. ^ "Hotel operators who partnered with Oyo call it 'biggest online fraud', demand criminal probe against Softbank-backed startup now poised to raise $1.5 bn". Firstpost. 8 October 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2021.
  32. ^ "Shark Tank Indian 3: All you need to know about 29-yr-old Ritesh Agarwal; the youngest Shark to join the panel". The Times of India. 7 October 2023. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
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