Ritesh Agarwal: Details about his early life, family, his business and more information.

Ritesh Agarwal: Ritesh Agarwal is an Indian entrepreneur best known as the founder and CEO of OYO Rooms, which is one of the world’s largest hotel chains. He showed a passion for business and technology from a young age. He moved to Delhi for college but dropped out to focus on his startup dreams.

How was his childhood and education?

He was born on November 16, 1993 in Bissam Cuttack, which is a small town in Odisha and was later raised in Rayagada, Odisha. He did his schooling from a Local school of Rayagada. After schooling he moved to Kota to prepare for IIT entrance exam, he later did his college from University of London.

Who all are there in Ritesh Agarwal family?

Ritesh Agarwal comes from a Marwari business family with modest root. His family consists of the following members:

• Her Father: Ramesh Agarwal, Who passed away in 2023 after a fall from a high-rise in Gurgaon.
• Her Mother: who is known to be a homemaker.
• Her Siblings: He reportedly has three siblings.
• His Wife: He got married in March 2023 to Geetansha Soni, who is from Lucknow. She’s known to be from a business family as well.
• His Son: Aryan.

  

Details on how did he started OYO room?

Ritesh started OYO Rooms out of a personal struggle and a sharp entrepreneurial instinct. When he was a teenager, he traveled across India on a tight budget. He often stayed in budget hotels and noticed big problem like the quality was inconsistent, sometimes clean, sometimes not, service varied, and booking was a hassle. He realized that many small hotels had empty rooms not because of lack of demand, but because they weren’t discoverable online or lacked standard quality.

At the age of 18 years old, he launched Oravel Stays, a platform similar to Airbnb, where users could book short-term budget accommodations but he quickly realized the bigger problem wasn’t the availability, it was standardization.

Then, in 2013, Ritesh pivoted Oravel into OYO Rooms (OYO = “On Your Own”), focusing on standardizing budget hotels. He would partner with budget hotels, improve their quality, and then list them under the OYO brand, ensuring a Clean rooms, Wi-Fi services, Air-conditioning room and Standardized services. Customers could now book budget hotels with trust and consistency via the OYO app or website.

The OYO grew rapidly across India and eventually expanded globally to countries like China, the UAE, the UK, and even the US. It became one of the world’s largest hotel chains by number of rooms at its peak.

Why is he known as the youngest billionaire?

Ritesh is often referred to as one of the youngest self-made billionaires because of his incredible journey from a small-town teenager to the founder of a multi-billion dollar startup. These was all before he turned 30 years old. In his mid-20s, Ritesh had built OYO into a global hotel chain, which was valued at several billion dollars.

This made him one of the youngest self-made billionaires in the world, alongside people like Mark Zuckerberg and Kylie Jenner (though in very different industries). His story has been featured in Forbes 30 Under 30, Fortune India’s 40 Under 40, and many global lists highlighting young entrepreneurs. So, it’s not just his age, it’s is about how quickly and independently he built something that made him incredibly successful.

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