What’s Naveen Jain’s web price?
Naveen Jain is an Indian American enterprise govt and entrepreneur who has a web price of $300 million. Naveen Jain is finest recognized for founding a string of formidable firms that bridge expertise, well being, and house exploration. Jain made his first fortune through the dot-com increase of the Nineteen Nineties because the founding father of InfoSpace. On the peak of the dotcom bubble, InfoSpace was price round $31 billion. At that stage, Naveen Jain’s web price was $8 billion. Within the aftermath of the bubble bursting, InfoSpace’s inventory value dropped from $140 to $1.56. The drop worn out round 98% of Naveen Jain’s paper web price. Lawsuits would later allege that Naveen and his spouse offered $200 million price of InfoSpace through the peak. A federal courtroom later dominated that a few of these trades constituted insider buying and selling and initially ordered Jain to repay $247 million. The SEC’s intervention on enchantment reduce his legal responsibility to $65 million.
The corporate was later accused of inflating revenues by way of questionable accounting practices and insider inventory gross sales. Shareholders misplaced billions, and Jain was finally ousted by the board in 2002 after going through lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny. A federal decide later dominated he had engaged in insider buying and selling, although the SEC’s intervention decreased his legal responsibility.
Regardless of the controversies, Jain reinvented himself as a serial entrepreneur in new industries. In 2003, he co-founded Intelius, a people-search and background examine service that turned worthwhile however attracted criticism for privateness points and aggressive advertising and marketing techniques. In 2010, he launched Moon Categorical, a personal house enterprise with the aim of mining the moon for assets. The corporate turned the primary non-public agency to obtain U.S. approval for a lunar touchdown try. In 2016, he based Viome, a health-tech firm targeted on analyzing the human microbiome and gene expression to offer customized well being insights and illness prevention.
Early Life
Naveen Jain was born in 1959 in Uttar Pradesh, India, right into a household of modest means. His father labored as a civil engineer for the Indian authorities, which meant the household moved continuously, usually residing in small villages and distant cities. Regardless of restricted assets, Jain excelled academically. He attended the Indian Institute of Expertise (IIT) Roorkee, the place he earned an engineering diploma, and later acquired an MBA from XLRI Faculty of Enterprise and Human Sources in Jamshedpur. Jain immigrated to america in 1983 to pursue a profession in expertise and enterprise, arriving with little cash however huge ambitions.
Early Profession
Jain started his profession working at firms like Unisys and later Microsoft, the place he was a part of the workforce that launched a number of consumer-focused merchandise, together with Home windows NT and Microsoft Community (MSN). His time at Microsoft gave him the muse and confidence to start out his personal ventures. In 1996, he left the corporate to launch InfoSpace, a supplier of on-line listing and search companies.

Getty
InfoSpace
InfoSpace turned one of many hottest web firms of the late Nineteen Nineties. It provided on-line search, e mail, and telephone listing companies that have been extensively licensed to main web sites and cell suppliers. At its peak in 2000, InfoSpace was valued at round $31 billion, and Jain’s private stake briefly made him a billionaire on paper. Nevertheless, the corporate turned infamous after the dot-com bubble burst, when its inventory value collapsed. Jain confronted intense scrutiny over InfoSpace’s administration, shareholder lawsuits, and accusations of overhyping the enterprise. He finally stepped down in 2002. Regardless of the controversies, InfoSpace cemented Jain’s popularity as a visionary risk-taker.
InfoSpace Collapse and Controversies
On the peak of the dot-com bubble, InfoSpace was valued at $31 billion, and Naveen Jain briefly turned one of many richest people in America on paper. Behind the scenes, nevertheless, InfoSpace’s progress was fueled by aggressive accounting maneuvers. The corporate engaged in so-called “lazy Susan” offers, through which cash invested in accomplice companies was rapidly recycled again to InfoSpace and booked as income, together with controversial barter promoting and inflated valuations of inventory warrants.
Executives and insiders offered a whole lot of thousands and thousands in inventory whereas persevering with to publicly promote the enterprise, and traders starting from small-town retirees to Paul Allen misplaced fortunes when the inventory collapsed from $140 a share to beneath $2. Jain himself was ousted by InfoSpace’s board in late 2002 after lawsuits, shareholder anger, and mounting questions on deceptive monetary statements. He was later ordered by a federal decide to pay $247 million for insider buying and selling, however the SEC took the weird step of siding with him on enchantment, lowering his legal responsibility to $65 million. InfoSpace finally recovered beneath new management, however Jain’s tenure stays one of the infamous examples of the dot-com period’s excesses.
InfoSpace Inventory Gross sales
Based on SEC and numerous authorized filings, Naveen and his spouse offered $200 million price of InfoSpace shares through the firm’s increase years. For instance:
- April 2000: After Merrill Lynch analyst Henry Blodget boosted projections, Jain offered 220,000 shares at $68.75 every, netting about $15.1 million in a single day. The Instances famous that the deceptive optimism inflated his positive aspects by a minimum of $1.2 million.
- Might–July 2000: Insider gross sales in that window (together with Jain and prime executives) totaled about $158 million. The Seattle Instances didn’t break down Jain’s precise portion, however he was one of many largest sellers.
- 2001–2002 (after the crash): Jain continued unloading at far decrease costs. At one level he offered 81,900 shares for simply $1 every, signaling little confidence within the firm’s restoration.
- Cumulative gross sales: Lawsuits alleged that Jain and his spouse offered greater than $200 million price of InfoSpace inventory through the peak. A federal courtroom later dominated that a few of these trades constituted insider buying and selling and initially ordered Jain to repay $247 million. The SEC’s intervention on enchantment reduce his legal responsibility to $65 million.
Moon Categorical and House Ventures
After InfoSpace, Jain set his sights on house exploration. In 2010, he co-founded Moon Categorical, a personal firm with the aim of mining the moon for assets and establishing industrial lunar missions. Moon Categorical made historical past in 2016 by turning into the primary non-public firm granted U.S. authorities approval to land on the moon. Although technical and monetary hurdles delayed a few of its ambitions, Jain’s foray into house established him as a number one voice within the industrial house race, usually emphasizing humanity’s must turn into a multi-planetary species.
Mike Coppola/Getty Photos for Kairos Society
Viome and Well being Improvements
Jain’s subsequent main enterprise was in well being and biotechnology. He based Viome in 2016, an organization that analyzes the human microbiome and gene expression to offer customized dietary and way of life suggestions. Viome’s mission is to forestall and remedy power ailments by addressing their root causes on the molecular stage. The corporate has attracted main funding and a focus for its daring claims about reworking human well being and longevity. Jain has described Viome as his most vital mission, calling it a mission to “make sickness elective.”
Different Ventures
Along with Moon Categorical and Viome, Jain has launched or supported a number of different firms, together with Bluedot, TalentWise, and Intelius. Intelius is a background examine and people-search firm that Naveen Jain co-founded in 2003. The service aggregates public information, together with telephone numbers, addresses, legal information, property possession, and private historical past, and sells entry to this info to shoppers. Whereas it rapidly grew right into a worthwhile enterprise, Intelius has been controversial due to privateness issues and its aggressive advertising and marketing techniques. Critics argue that the corporate makes it too straightforward for strangers to entry delicate private particulars, generally with out the topic’s data or consent. Intelius has additionally confronted lawsuits and regulatory scrutiny over deceptive subscription practices, the place prospects have been allegedly enrolled in recurring billing applications with out clear disclosure. These points made the corporate a frequent topic of debate in discussions about knowledge privateness and the ethics of monetizing private info.
Private Life
Naveen Jain lives in Washington state along with his spouse, Anu Jain, who has been a serious supporter of philanthropic initiatives in schooling and well being. The couple has three kids, every of whom has pursued entrepreneurial and tutorial paths of their very own. His son, Ankur Jain, has earned a $3+ billion fortune by founding the corporate Bilt Rewards.
Actual Property
In July 1999, Naveen paid $13 million for a 12,500-square-foot lakefront mansion set on 1.3 acres in Medina, Washington, not removed from Invoice Gates’ expansive Xanadu 2.0 property. Naveen dubbed his mansion “Diamanti.” The present estimated worth is $30+ million. The house options an indoor pool, recording studio and storage that may show a yacht.
All web worths are calculated utilizing knowledge drawn from public sources. When offered, we additionally incorporate non-public ideas and suggestions acquired from the celebrities or their representatives. Whereas we work diligently to make sure that our numbers are as correct as potential, until in any other case indicated they’re solely estimates. We welcome all corrections and suggestions utilizing the button beneath.