What profession is pursued by the 10 richest people in the world? 1. Jeff Bezos: Jeff Bezos has a net worth of an astounding $131 billion. He is the founder and CEO of the e-commerce company Amazon (founded in 1994). He also owns The Washington Post and Blue Origin. Amazon made a net profit of $10 billion last year. His stake in Amazon is 16%. 2. Bill Gates: Bill Gates  has a net worth of $96.5 billion. He founded Microsoft with Paul Allen in 1975. He is also the Chair of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable foundation. As of today, his stake in Microsoft is only 1%. He has donated $35.8 billion worth of Microsoft stock to the Gates Foundation. 3. Warren Buffett: Warren Buffett  has a net worth of $82.5 billion. He is one of the most successful investors of all time. He runs the Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 60 companies, including Geico, Duracell, and Dairy Queen. He bought a stock at age 11 and filed taxes at the age...

What are cryptocurrencies and what will be the effect of active trading of cryptocurrencies in India? The mode of retail payments in the world is changing at a very fast pace, and here is a new innovative mechanism which has come into limelight these days. The new innovative mechanism is cryptocurrency. What are cryptocurrencies? Let us first understand what are digital currencies. Digital currencies are the currencies which are in the global a financial system (mobile wallet like PayTm, Freecharge, etc.) and not held in physical form. Cryptocurrencies are just a part of these digital currencies, which are based on certain algorithms. A cryptocurrency is a fully digital currency, which is not issued by the government and there is no government intervention. It is designed to work as a real currency. It is designed to work as a real currency. It is a currency that has no intervention from the banks or any other financial institution unlike in the case of other money. ...

How is the real estate industry performing as compared to the stock market industry? We all have heard about unconventional gains in both the real estate world and the stock market. People love to diversify their portfolio in both these avenues. However, there are certain limitations in both industries. There are periods of recession in both but you can make really high gains in the stock market which is not possible in case of real estate.  To understand both these industries better let's take a look at the capital requirement, investment horizon, ease of purchase and sale, returns percentage, profit earning potential, tax implications, and skills requirement. 1. Real Estate: The real estate industry involves buying any physical property be it a commercial office space, commercial shops or residential apartment. The capital requirement in the real estate space is very high as compared to the stock market especially if there is land attached to the property. A property ...

Material Pleasure vs. Mental Pleasure. What is the difference between them and which one should you seek? This blog is something different from the usual investment and finance talks. I am going to talk about something very subjective. You may or may not agree with my view. Just try to give yourself some time to contemplate on the same. If you don't understand, just skip this post. Every person out there has his/her own interests and way of living. Similarly, the goals that each person has differs from that of the next person in the room. Although everyone cannot be a billionaire, one doesn't need to be a billionaire to live a quality life. Some people find pleasure in material things such as a luxurious car, however, some people find more pleasure in mental pleasures such as sky diving, visiting people from different cultures, etc. Look at the two situations below. Would you like to buy a luxury car and give rich companies more money or would you like to be the reason ...

What is Islamic Banking and how do the Islamic banks earn profits? Under the Islamic law or Sharia, interest is named as "riba". The law states that no financial institution operating under the Islamic banking law is allowed to collect or pay interest to lenders and investors. Islamic Banking refers to a system of banking or banking activity which follows the principles and ethics of Shariah Law. Islamic banks emerged in the 1970s and have grown at a very high CAGR of 10-12%. Clearly, it is growing at a much faster pace than conventional finance systems. The Islamic Banks particularly have a high number of Muslim customers but the banks are open to all. In just above 4 decades the Islamic Banking Industry has grown to be a massive $2.2 trillion industry. The significance of Islamic Banks can also be clearly understood by the fact that the IMF is planning to include Islamic Finance to its financial sector assessments. Key Features of Islamic Banking: Interest...

What is the economic standing of the civil aviation industry in India? The civil aviation industry in India is a highly underpenetrated market. The total number of aircraft in India is only 673 which serves a population of 133crore. On the other hand, only a single airline in the US such as American Airlines and Delta Airlines have 932 and 878 aircraft respectively. The total number of aircraft in the US is 7628 which serves a population of 33 crores. The figures clearly tell that there is a lot of scope for the aviation industry in India. Also if you consider the biggest airports in India, such as Delhi airport and Mumbai airport, they have 3 operational runways and 1 operational runway respectively. And keep in mind, these airports are built recently. If we compare this with airports in Dallas or Los Angeles or even San Francisco, then you would find that they were built in the 1960s and '70s but still have 6-7 runways. The airports need to be more...

The implications of declining oil prices on the Indian Economy. The crude oil prices have decreased in recent days, the reason being the trade war between the US and China. The tension in the market has lowered the demand for crude oil and therefore also lowered the price. Also, US shale oil supply is on a constant rise and everyone had underestimated how much oil can the US economy extract. The rise in production of shale oil has threatened the OPEC organizations and therefore leading to a mixed response in the market. The price of crude oil dropped by 2.75% on 29th May 2019. The following are the effects of declining oil prices on the Indian Economy: Current Account Balance: The current account balance is the difference between what a country is spending on its imports and its exports. Constituents of current account include the balance of trade, net primary income, and net cash transfers. If the cost of the imports is more than the exports income, then there is a current ...

What is private equity and how does it work? There are companies which are listed on the stock exchange and can be traded publicly. But there are also companies which are not listed on the exchange and therefore over the counter exchange (NSE/BSE) is not possible.  Private equity is altogether a different asset class wherein institutional investors and accredited investors invest large sums of money (from private equity funds) into unlisted companies or in buyouts of the public companies. The buyout results in the delisting of public equity. The investment horizon in private equity investments is usually mid to long term (average being 6-7 years). One can't sell private equity on a day to day basis. There are 2 types of partners in a private equity fund: Limited Partners: They usually own 99 percent of the shares in a fund. They don't get involved in the day to day operations of the fund and have limited liability. General Partners: They usually own 1 percent ...