Who is Angel One's Dinesh Thakkar? From 12th pass to buying Rs 711 crore Juhu tower

Angel One founder Dinesh Thakkar has agreed to buy an entire residential tower in Juhu for around Rs 711 crore. The deal has renewed focus on his journey from the family textile trade to building one of India's largest retail broking platforms.

In Short

• Dinesh Thakkar to buy entire Juhu residential tower for Rs 711 crore
• Left studies after Class 12, started in family's textile business
• After difficult early market years, he founded Angel Broking in 1996

Dinesh Thakkar, founder, chairman and managing director of Angel One, has made headlines after agreeing to buy an entire residential tower in Mumbai's Juhu for around Rs 711 crore. But the story behind the stockbroking entrepreneur goes well beyond his latest luxury property purchase.

Thakkar has spoken openly about leaving his studies after Class 12, starting out in his family's textile business, entering the stock market, building a brokerage business and eventually turning it into Angel One, one of India's largest retail broking platforms.

His personal interests have also evolved sharply over the years. The man whose first car was a Premier Padmini now owns a collection of high-performance cars, including a Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche.

HE STUDIED SCIENCE BEFORE LEAVING AFTER CLASS 12

Thakkar's education began at St John the Baptist High School, where his LinkedIn profile shows he studied from 1978 to 1980. He then studied Science at Kishinchand Chellaram College of Arts Commerce and Science from 1980 to 1982.

But he did not continue with formal higher education.

In an interview with Mashable India's Visionaries of India, Thakkar described leaving his studies after Class 12 as one of the biggest risks he had taken.

"Biggest risk that I took was leaving my studies at 12th and having confidence that I would be able to build business without formal education," he said.

HE STARTED OUT IN HIS FAMILY'S TEXTILE BUSINESS

Thakkar was born in Mumbai's Mulund in a family involved in textile trading. After leaving formal education, he initially joined the family business.

But he has said that he wanted to build something independently rather than remain within the framework of the family business.

In The Indian Dream podcast, Thakkar described his thinking at the time and said he wanted to be a "free bird". He said he started out with a small capital of Rs 2.5 lakh. The comment has been reported from that podcast by Hindustan Times; the underlying statement is attributed to Thakkar.

He eventually moved towards the stock market.

FROM INVESTOR TO STOCKBROKER

Thakkar did not begin his career as the head of a brokerage company. He first entered the stock market as an investor.

The early experience was not smooth. His career narrative includes the major disruption caused by the 1992 securities scam and the difficulties that followed.

He then moved into stockbroking and built what became Angel Broking. Angel One's own corporate documents say Thakkar has more than 30 years of experience in the broking industry and has served as the company's chairman and managing director.

Angel Broking was incorporated in 1996 and later evolved into Angel One as the business moved towards a digital-first model.

FROM WALKIE-TALKIES TO DIGITAL BROKING

The early brokerage business was very different from today's app-based trading.

Thakkar has spoken about using a walkie-talkie to provide customers with real-time trade confirmations in the early days of his broking business.

That was part of an effort to solve a basic problem for retail investors at a time when stockbroking was largely offline and technology had not yet transformed the industry.

Over the years, Angel evolved from a traditional brokerage into a digital financial-services platform.

Angel One's corporate profile says the company began its digital journey in 2019 with an end-to-end digital investment platform. It was listed on the stock exchanges in 2020 and rebranded as Angel One in 2021.

HIS FIRST CAR WAS A PREMIER PADMINI

Away from the stock market, Thakkar has a very different passion: cars.

In a 2021 interview with Fortune India, Thakkar said his first car was a Premier Padmini, which he bought in the mid-1980s. His first luxury sedan was a Mercedes E-Class.

His collection has since moved several levels up.

Thakkar told Fortune India that he owned a Ferrari 488 Pista, Lamborghini Huracn Performante, Porsche 911 GT3, Lamborghini Urus and two Mercedes-Benz AMGs, apart from a Mini Cooper. He also said he still owned a Mercedes E-240 that he had bought around 15 years earlier.

And he does not describe the cars as pieces kept in a garage.

"I actually get into my cars and drive all of them regularly," Thakkar told Fortune India.

He has taken them on long drives, including Bengaluru-Ooty, Mumbai-Udaipur and routes through Gujarat and Rajasthan. He has also driven them in Leh and Ladakh.

He has taken his performance cars to professional tracks in Chennai and Noida, saying the cars are very different on a track.

HE DOESN'T SEE CARS JUST AS STATUS SYMBOLS

Thakkar has also explained why he buys particular cars.

He said the Porsche appeals to him for its handling, while the Lamborghini offers the thrill of driving fast. The Ferrari, meanwhile, completed what he described as his portfolio of cars.

He also makes a distinction between how he chooses stocks and how he chooses cars.

With stocks, he said, the decision is based on numbers such as profits and market share. With cars, the decision is more subjective and emotional.

"With the cars, it's all passion and emotions," he told Fortune India.

FROM RENTING HOMES TO A RS 711-CRORE TOWER

The Juhu purchase also marks a sharp change in Thakkar's approach to real estate.

He has previously said that he rented homes until around the age of 38-40 because he preferred putting his capital into his business rather than real estate.

The current deal is therefore a significant departure from that approach.

Thakkar has agreed to buy an entire G+7 residential tower at Embassy Terrazza in Juhu. The tower has a RERA carpet area of around 63,000 sq ft and will be used as his family home. He has named the residence "Angelus". India Today reported that he chose the property for its privacy, space and sea views.

"For a home of this scale, trust in the developer matters as much as the residence itself," Thakkar said in the statement on the purchase.

Thakkar's wealth is closely linked to his stake in Angel One.

Angel One's FY2024-25 annual report showed that Thakkar held 16.77 crore shares, representing an 18.57% stake in the company as of March 31, 2025.

Rather than relying on third-party estimates of his personal net worth, the shareholding provides a more concrete public measure of his interest in the listed company.

- Ends