Radha Vembu: World’s 2nd Richest Self-Made Woman

Radha Vembu is the world’s 2nd richest self-made woman, earning ₹8 crore per day. She is the richest self-made woman in India, in the IT industry.

The M3M Hurun Global Rich List of 2023 ranks Radha Vembu, co-founder of the software company Zoho, as the second-richest self-made woman in the software and services sector. 

In India’s software industry, she is also the richest self-made woman. A $4 billion or Rs 32,800 crore estimate of Radha Vembu’s net worth has been made. 

Since Zoho is a bootstrapped business, it has never received outside funding. The largest shareholder in the company is Radha Vembu, who holds a 47.8 percent stake in it. 

Only 5% of the company is owned by her brother Sridhar Vembu, a co-founder of Zoho. For a bootstrapped business, Zoho’s profit of over Rs 2700 crore was the highest. 

The company’s email service, Zoho Mail, is run by Radha Vembu, an IIT Madras alumni. On the M3M Hurun Global Rich List, she rose 103 spots from the previous year. 

Over 80% of the stock in the business is owned by the Vembu family. Sekar, the brother of Radha Vembu, is a silent shareholder in Zoho.

Arattai, a chat platform being developed by Zoho to rival WhatsApp, is currently under development. Living in Chennai is Radha Vembu. 

IIT Madras is where Sridhar Vembu, a recipient of the Padma Shri award, earned his engineering degree in 1989. After completing his studies at Princeton University, he began working for Qualcomm.

Since 2019, Sridhar Vembu has established a rural Tamil Nadu home and business. He manages a vocational school and provides students with stipends totaling Rs 10,000. 

Sridhar Vembu’s estranged wife, Pramila Srinivasan, recently accused him of giving his sister and her husband the majority ownership of Zoho without telling her. The accusations were denied by Sridhar Vembu.