Divyank Turakhia

Some Lesser Known Facts About Divyank Turakhia

• Does Divyank Turakhia smoke?: Not Known

• Does Divyank Turakhia drink alcohol?: Yes

• Divyank was only 16-years old when he, along with his elder brother, Bhavin, then 18, laid the foundation of “Directi.” The company initially served as a domain name registrar; however, with time it gained entry into a number of businesses, including advertising technology, online payment services and voice calling & instant messaging apps.

• In an interview, he revealed that his interest in the field of computers and technology intensified during his school years in the late 90’s, as he would make computer projects for fellow classmates and earn hefty amounts from them in return.

• The Turakhia brothers, who began as technology consultants in the year 1996, owe all their success to their father, an accountant, who, despite facing hardships making ends meet, lent them INR 25,000 to set up their own business.

• Avid coders from a very young age, the brothers, while narrating their breakthrough in an interview, revealed that they might have never made it big had Nasscom, the industry body for software companies, not called them up for fixing their conference’s connectivity troubles, during an event in New Delhi in 1999.

• In 2014, the duo sold a part- a total of 4 companies – of Directi to the Nasdaq-listed “Endurance International Group” for a whopping $160 million. Notably, all the companies/brands of Directi are bootstrapped, which implies that they do not have any equity investor.

• Divyank and his brother entered the “billionaires club” when they sold one of their companies, Media.net, an advertising-related products development firm, to a consortium of Chinese investors for a sum of $900 million, marking the third largest ad-tech deal in global history.

• According to a 2015 business report, Media.net had an annual revenue of around $232 million.

• Apart from the common ‘coding intellect’ and ‘business success’, the two have similar tastes in hobbies too. Both the brothers like to indulge in adventurous sports and activities; while elder brother Bhavin loves snowboarding and river rafting, younger brother Divyank likes flying planes, scuba diving, paragliding, and Wing Walking!

• Currently settled in Dubai, Divyank was the 95th richest person in India in 2016, according to Forbes.