This Bollywood's First Billionaire With Rs 13,000 Cr Net Worth Didn't Start His Career In Movies And NO He Is Not Shah Rukh, Salman Or Akshay Kumar!

Meet Bollywood's first Billionaire celebrity, film producer and entrepreneur, Ronnie Screwvala aka Rohinton Soli Screwvala. Yes, with a net worth of $1.55 billion as per Forbes, which approximately comes to Rs 13,000 crore, he is by far the richest and first billionaire in B-Town, beating the likes of Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan and Akshay Kumar. He was also listed among 25 Asia's Most Powerful people by Fortune Magazine. He will now be seen as one of the sharks on the fresh season of hit business reality show - Shark Tank India Season 4. 

The new season has six new sharks as judges namely - Ritesh Agarwal, Radhika Gupta, Varun Dua, Deepinder Goyal, Azhar Iqubal, and Ronnie Screwvala. 

He was first married to Manjula Nanavati and together they have a daughter named Trishya Screwvala, who is married to sports commentator Suhail Chandhok. Later, he got married to Zarina Mehta, who is also the co-founder in the media company UTV they founded, and is the co-trustee of their Philanthropic foundation; The Swades Foundation.

Ronnie Screwvala kickstarted his entrepreneurial life with Lazer Brushes, a company that manufactured toothbrushes. He later founded his own cable television company called Network in 1981. He also hosted a quiz show Mashoor Mahal in Doordarshan in 1985.

He along with his wife Zarina, they co-founded 'The Swades Foundation' which is named after the acclaimed film he produced 'Swades' starring Shah Rukh Khan. It was helmed by Ashutosh Gowariker. The goal of his foundation is to lift a million people out of poverty.

Swades is active in Raigad district in Maharashtra, working primarily on Water, Sanitation, Health, Education and Livelihood opportunities.

Screwvala founded UTV and eventually became a media conglomerate spanning a leading movie studio, a Games Studio and a creative content company that went public and listed on stock exchanges in 2005 and into which Disney gradually took a substantial stake until he divested the whole company to them in 2012, as per Wikipedia information. He produced movies under the banner of UTV Motion Pictures.

After UTV and Disney merger, he launched another film production brand, RSVP Movies. He has produced films such as The Sky Is Pink, Sonchiriya, Raat Akeli Hai, Karwaan, and many others under the RSVP Movies banner. 

Ronnie Screwvala is the co-founder and chairperson of UpGrad, an Edtech company he established with Mayank Kumar and Phalgun Kompalli in 2015. It focuses on Digital Marketing, Data Analytics, Digital Technology Management, Data-Driven Management and Product Management. In 2022, UpGrad acquired Harappa Education for Rs 300 crore, and the company is currently valued at $2.25 billion (approximately Rs 18,685 crore), according to a News18 report.

He also manages Unilazer Ventures - a private equity firm, where he invests in various startups. In 2014, he collaborated with Supratik Sen to launch USports, a sports company that focuses on three sports: Kabaddi, E-Sports, and Football.