Rakesh Gangwal's IndiGo exit path is paved with gold

In one of the most remarkable exits by a company founder, Rakesh Gangwal has sold the majority of his stake in IndiGo, turning a 2006 investment of ₹14.7 crore into a monumental ₹45,000 crore or $5 billion in less than 20 years.

- Dipali Banka & Varun Sood

In one of the most remarkable exits by a company founder, Rakesh Gangwal has sold the majority of his stake in IndiGo, turning a 2006 investment of ₹14.7 crore into a monumental ₹45,000 crore or $5 billion in less than 20 years. The sale, which follows his departure from the airline, highlights a chapter that saw his aviation acumen help transform IndiGo into India's largest airline.

Gangwal's IndiGo windfall comfortably beats that of Flipkart's Bansals, who made over $1 billion each in selling shares to Walmart in 2018, as it acquired the Bengaluru-based company for $16 billion. This is among the most successful stake sales by the founder of a homegrown firm since the start of the century, according to two investors and one investment banker.

"A ₹15 crore investment giving this kind of return in less than two decades is spectacular. It surely would count as one of the most successful exits for a founder, which is especially more because it was in a non-tech business," a Bengaluru-based investor said on the condition of anonymity.

Aviation veteran Gangwal had joined hands with Rahul Bhatia to launch IndiGo, making a daring bet on India's coming aviation boom. What proved to be a graveyard for rivals turned out to be a gold mine for IndiGo, as the low-fare airline went from strength to strength, swelling its valuation multifold along the way.