Anurag Dikshit
Anurag Dikshit | |
---|---|
Born | 1973 (age 50–51) Businessman |
Years active | 1990s-present |
Organization | Kusuma Trust |
Anurag Dikshit (/ˈdɪksɪt/; born 1973) is an Indian businessman.[1] In 2006 Dikshit became head of the online poker company PartyGaming's research and special projects.[2]
By 2009, Forbes described him as a billionaire.[1] In connection with PartyGaming, in 2009 he pled guilty to one count of online gambling in violation of the Federal Wire Act and received a $300 million fine.[1] After selling 23% of his stake in the company's initial public offering, and a further two-thirds, in October 2009,[3] he sold the remainder of his stake in PartyGaming in 2010.[4]
Early life and education
Anurag Dikshit was born in October 1971.
He has a bachelors degree in computer science and engineering from IIT Delhi.[7] He graduated in 1994, and afterwards moved to the United States to work as a software developer.[5]
Career
CMC and AT&T
Following graduation, Dikshit worked as a software developer in the United States at
PartyGaming board
In 1997, he and his college fellow alumni Vikrant Bhargava founded PartyPoker.com,[2] with American Ruth Parasol hiring Dikshit to write the software in 1998.[2] In 2005, Dikshit hired Bhargava for additional projects.[8]
At age 25,[8] Dikshit was asked by Parasol[9] to write the betting software for her company Starluck Casino.[8] He joined in 1998, one year after it was founded by Parasol,[8][1] and wrote the software that "allowed gamblers in different parts of the world to pay poker with one another."[1] Starluck Casino was launched as PartyPoker in 2001 after Dikshit and Parasol switched their focus from roulette and blackjack to poker.[8] Since online gambling was illegal in the US at the time, the company's servers and offices were based in Gibraltar, where Dikshit settled.[5]
The company floated on the London Stock Exchange in June 2005, with Dikshit earning a significant sum due to owning a considerable portion of the company.[8] In May 2006 Dikshit stepped down from PartyGaming's board of directors[1][2] and took a position as head of the company's research and special projects.[2] In that position, he developed new products but largely stepped back from media appearances.[8] He also became PartyGaming's chief operations officer.[2]
Fine and exiting PartyGaming
In 2008, he ranked No. 701 on the Forbes list of the World's Billionaires, and had a net worth of $1 billion.[1] By 2008, he remained the largest individual shareholder of PartyGaming with 27% of the stock, even after selling 23%.[8]
Becoming the "first high-profile internet gambling tycoon to willingly face justice in a US court," according to The Guardian,[10] after traveling to New York,[11] in December 2008, Dikshit entered a guilty plea to one count of online gambling in violation of the Federal Wire Act and agreed to forfeit $300 million.[12][1][13] "I came to believe there was a high probability it was in violation of U.S. laws", Dikshit told U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in New York, referring to PartyGaming's activity.[12] At the time, he still owned approximately 28% of the company's shares, equal at the time to about $300 million.[10] He paid off the fine in June 2009.[1]
After having sold 23% of his stake in the IPO years earlier, he sold a further two-thirds in October 2009.[3] He sold off the remainder of his stake in PartyGaming in January 2010.[4][14] According to Forbes, he donated the proceeds from the sales to the Kusuma Trust, a charity he'd founded several years prior to aid at-risk children.[1] Although he'd faced a maximum of two years in jail,[15] in 2010, he was given a one-year probation.[16][17]
Kusuma Trust
According to The Telegraph, in 2010, Dikshit and the Sainsbury family were Britain's biggest donors, both giving away over £100 million that year.[18]
In 2013, he had been an early funder of Next Education Private Limited in Hyderabad.[19]
By 2014, he had transferred around £172.4 million to his fund the Kusuma Trust, registered in Gibraltar. That year, the
Personal life
In 2023, he and his wife lived with their two children in London.[6] As a citizen of India,[15] in 2008, he was also a resident of the United Kingdom and Gibraltar,[11] having first set up a residence in Gibraltar in 2001.[1]
Dikshit and his wife set up the Kusuma Gallery, sponsored through the Kusuma Trust, at the V&A’s Photography Centre in 2023.[21]
See also
- List of IIT Delhi people
- List of British Indians in business and industry
- List of people from Jharkhand
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Online Gambling Billionaire Cashes In. Forbes.com (20 October 2009). Retrieved on 15 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f PartyGaming's Dikshit quits board. Forbes (24 May 2006). Retrieved on 15 June 2011.
- ^ a b Nils Pratley, The Guardian, 20 October 2009, Guardian.co.uk: Dealing in poker profit
- ^ a b The Daily Telegraph, 25 January 2010 PartyGaming founder Anurag Dikshit severs ties with company after £114m share sale
- ^ a b c d Balakrishnan, Angela (16 December 2008). "Anurag Dikshit: High roller who came late to the poker party". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c "Team". The Kusuma Trust. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ a b "Indian Billionaires Who Fetched the Title Out Of Sheer Hard Work - Page 5". siliconindia. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Anurag Dikshit – High roller who came late to the poker party. The Guardian. Retrieved on 15 June 2011.
- ^ Ruth Parasol. Bonitatrust.org. Retrieved on 15 June 2011.
- ^ a b The Guardian, 17 December 2008, PartyGaming up 27% as founder pleads guilty in US court
- ^ ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ a b Larson, Erik (16 December 2008). "PartyGaming's Dikshit Pleads Guilty to Web Gambling". Bloomberg News.
- ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Cypra, Dan (20 October 2009). "Anurag Dikshit Sells Remaining Stake in Party Gaming". Poker News Daily. Retrieved 30 March 2024.
- ^ ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Vardi, Nathan. "Department Of Justice Flip-Flops On Internet Gambling". Forbes. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "Hedge fund boss Chris Hohn gives away £1bn in five years". The Telegraph. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ Samal, Itishree (24 January 2013). "Next Education to raise Rs 150-cr PE fund". Business Standard (Press release).
- ^ "Centre suspects source, blocks funds to Amnesty India-India News , Firstpost". Firstpost. 15 February 2014. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
- ^ "Collecting with a focus". Apollo Magazine. 27 April 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.