BENGALURU: Flipkart CEO Binny Bansal has purchased a Rs 32-crore house in Bengaluru's entrepreneurial hub Koramangala. The 32-year-old boss of India's biggest online retailer bought a 10,000-sq-ft property in Koramangala not too far away from where Flipkart started nine years ago in one of the most expensive residential deals in the tech city recently, people familiar with the matter said.
The city's entrepreneurial hub Koramangala, and in particular its third block, has become a coveted neighbourhood, with a bevy of self-made billionaires owning homes there. With the newly acquired home, Trisha and Binny Bansal will count Infosys co-founders Nandan Nilekani and Kris Gopalakrishnan along with Dr Devi Shetty and Rajeev Chandrasekhar among their neighbours. The low-key Bansal, who availed a substantial home loan from two private banks, completed the property registration some weeks back.
Incidentally, Sachin Bansal, the other co-founder of Flipkart, also owns a property in the same neighbourhood, though a smaller one. He acquired this asset some years ago after liquidating some shares in Flipkart just as the valuation boom kicked in.
Flipkart, which had a peak valuation of $15 billion, was recently marked down by some of its investors, but still carries a hefty $10-billion tag. Both Bansals (they are not related) own around 7% stake each in the company, pegging their holdings at $700 million each, going by the latest valuation figures.
According to reports, Bansal has acquired the new home from the Iqbal family, one of the long-time residents of the area. Apparently, he has paid the highest stamp duty for any residential property transaction with the local sub-registrar. Real estate company JLL is said to have brokered the transaction.