Meet woman, born in Pakistan, attempted suicide at 22, now leads Rs 1 lakh crore company, she is...

Following the success of two highly acclaimed seasons, the third season of the business reality show Shark Tank India is scheduled to stream on SonyLIV starting January 22. This season will feature a total of twelve sharks, including six new business leaders, one of whom is Radhika Gupta. She serves as the Managing Director and CEO of Edelweiss Mutual Fund, a leading mutual fund firm in India.

Radhika's journey began in Pakistan, where she was born with birth complications that resulted in a broken neck. As the daughter of an Indian Foreign Service official, she grew up in various countries, including Pakistan, Delhi, Nigeria, and New York. She later attended the prestigious Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology at the University of Pennsylvania, earning dual degrees in computer science and economics.

Throughout her career, Radhika faced multiple setbacks, including several job rejections, and even battled severe depression, once attempting to take her own life. Reflecting on that difficult time, she shared in an interview with Humans of Bombay, "At 22, when I got my 7th job rejection, I looked out the window & said, 'I’ll jump.' My friend called for help! I was wheeled into a psychiatric ward & diagnosed as depressed. The only reason they let me go was because I said, ‘I have a job interview—it’s my only shot.’ And that day, I bagged the job at McKinsey."

In the aftermath of the 2008 global financial crisis, Radhika returned to India and co-founded Forefront Capital Management in Mumbai alongside her husband and a friend. The company was eventually acquired by Edelweiss Mutual Fund, where she rapidly ascended the corporate ranks to become the head of the ₹1 lakh crore organization.

Nicknamed "the girl with the broken neck," Radhika became one of India's youngest CEOs at 33. According to Mint, "Radhika joined Edelweiss Asset Management Co. as Chief Executive Officer in 2017. At the time, the fund house had assets of ₹9,128 crore. This figure has grown to ₹1,01,406 crore in January 2023."

In addition to Radhika Gupta, the other sharks participating in Shark Tank India season 3 include Aman Gupta (Co-Founder and CMO, boAt), Amit Jain (CEO and Co-founder, CarDekho, and InsuranceDekho), Anupam Mittal (Founder and CEO, Shaadi.com - People Group), Namita Thapar (ED, Emcure Pharmaceuticals), Vineeta Singh (Co-founder and CEO, SUGAR Cosmetics), Peyush Bansal (Founder and CEO, Lenskart.com), Ritesh Agarwal (Founder and CEO, OYO Rooms), Deepinder Goyal (Founder and CEO, Zomato), Ronnie Screwvala (Co-founder and Chairperson, Upgrad), Varun Dua (Founder and CEO, Acko General Insurance), and Azhar Iqubal (Co-Founder and CEO, Inshorts).