Physics Wallah's Alakh Pandey Retains Spot on Forbes Billionaires List 2026 with $1 Billion+ Net Worth
Alakh Pandey, the Prayagraj-born founder of edtech unicorn PhysicsWallah, has once again made it to the Forbes World's Billionaires List 2026. He is ranked 3,332 globally with a net worth exceeding $1 billion. News9live Last year, he stood at rank 2,938 with $1.1 billion, News9live making this his second consecutive appearance on the global billionaires ranking.
Forbes described him as a college dropout who co-founded PhysicsWallah in 2020 along with business partner Prateek Maheshwari. News9live The platform offers test prep courses aimed at helping students clear entrance exams for engineering and medical institutions. X
Alakh's journey is far from conventional. Born in 1991 in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, he started his YouTube channel in 2016, teaching physics to IIT-JEE aspirants. Wionews He enrolled at Harcourt Butler Technical University for mechanical engineering but dropped out before completing his degree — a decision that would eventually lead him to build one of India's most valuable edtech companies.
The financials back up the Forbes recognition. PhysicsWallah reported revenues of ₹2,886 crore in FY25, compared to ₹1,940 crore the previous year, while reducing its net loss sharply to ₹243 crore from ₹1,131 crore in FY24. Wionews The company has also filed updated DRHP with SEBI for a ₹3,820 crore IPO — comprising a ₹3,100 crore fresh issue and ₹720 crore offer-for-sale, with each founder planning to offload shares worth ₹360 crore. Wionews
On the wealth charts, both Alakh Pandey and co-founder Prateek Maheshwari saw their wealth surge 223% in a single year as per the Hurun India Rich List 2025, BW Disrupt with Pandey's net worth reaching ₹14,510 crore — surpassing Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
India ranked third on the Forbes 2026 list with 229 billionaires, behind the US (989) and China including Hong Kong (610). Siasat Daily Among Indian names, Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani, Lakshmi Mittal, and Shiv Nadar continue to lead, with Alakh Pandey representing a new generation of knowledge-economy billionaires.
From teaching on a whiteboard to commanding a billion-dollar platform, Alakh Pandey's story stands as one of India's most compelling startup journeys — proof that education, built right, is its own kind of wealth.
