Bigger India
Why Walmart’s Flipkart Deal Will Spur Entrepreneurship in India
The two creators of Flipkart, which was just scooped up by Walmart, met while taking extra courses in India to make up for poor grades. Now their creative thinking and business success will do more than simply create two new billionaires.
Walmart’s agreement on June 9 to purchase 77% of Flipkart for $16 billion mints two engineer billionaires in India. Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart and who are not related, each reportedly own about 5% of the Indian online retailer. They will have a net worth about $1 billion when the transaction with Walmart is completed later this year. It will mark a major business success for professionals in India, outside the information technology businesses.