Rahul Kumar has come a long way from being a master dark web hacker in his teens, a fund manager/bond underwriter to the CEO of EGW Capital, a prominent blockchain investment bank that redefined crypto listings and market-making. A self-made man who today owns over 40% of EGW Capital which commands more than the US $700 million of market cap. The company has plans to hire over 5,000 work from home people in the next few months and is about to revolutionize investment with its crypto staking products. Talking to our correspondent he answered some of the questions which gave an inside peek against his not so known personal life.
How was your childhood? And as of today do you only talk, eat, and sleep with Crypto or you have some other desires to fulfill?
I am a reserved kind of person not shy in particular (laughs), I am not a socialite who will hang out with friends, I still remember the names of my school and college friends but I am not regular in meeting them, I hardly meet them which I deeply regret. I love to enjoy my drink alone rather than partying, though most of the time people may call it symptoms of depression (laughs) but the people whom we pray today like Buddha or Shiva found peace alone, the universe is within you and your emotional health is what matters the most if you are happy your country is happy, the happiness begins in you. Since childhood, I was an avid reader and I always tried to find an isolated space to deeply understand things, you can call me a loner but it helped me gather a million things at a faster pace. In an age where my friends were learning how to drive cars or bikes, I was learning the tricks of a computer, my parents wanted me to become software engineer, I became one but I ended up learning the weakness of computers and tried my hands in hacking, though I never did professionally yes I participated in many championships. Hacking made me learn patience. In my teens, I have sold detergents door to door, but that improved my sales skills. No work is small and everything makes you learn something and prepare you for the future. In my school and college time, I was extremely good at accounts and business, hence graduated in commerce too. I had a tough childhood but it did not make me weak, it made me stronger, and I thank my parents to put me under this pressure. I never had home tuitions for any subject, hence it gave me the strength to read things, again and again, refer to the dictionary and chase brilliant students for their help. This is how my reading habits have grown in me, once you know how to sit peacefully and read for several hours, you truly mature. My parents never asked me to do business since for them a 9 am – 5 pm job will give enough money to survive but for me surviving like an ordinary person is no fun, exist to change not to just survive. From my professional life to personal life everything is an adventure for me, I can say I lived an adventurous day to day life. Another adventure that I cannot forget is getting to see my college time girlfriend getting married to somebody else transformed me as a person. Crypto and blockchain is something that I did not learn from school and nobody is a doctorate or Ph.D. in this sphere, the masters of blockchain are in the making. As of today, what excites me in the crypto space is the constant innovation in this field, the desire to do better never let me have a sound sleep, and your passion should never make you feel relaxed, it should challenge your roots. Yes, I sleep with crypto and blockchain in my head, this industry needs hard-working people, a lot is happening in this space and you will see many people defeating Jeff Bezos, Mukesh Ambani, etc. in terms of networth all coming from crypto space. The traditional form of stock markets will vanish and the real estate will trade on the markets. The concept of tokenization has taken people by surprise and the market is beginning to realize that business can be made easy.
Still today, I respect my school principal Ms. Rita Talwar who was strict with me but had firm confidence in me that I can channelize my energy in the right direction. She gave me the punishment of sitting in the school library and believe me she opened the gates of heaven for me. I read books on several subjects
So do you want to become the next Ambani or Bezos?
Yes, why not. The society must stop treating billionaires as evil. They are humans too and make mistakes, some of them became flamboyant but this does not mean they are bad people, to reach this point they leave millions of moments of joy in their teens if they are self-made, so if their flamboyancy does not break the law it is okay. Why people worry about who is the girlfriend of Jeff Bezos and why their divorce is highlighted as an evil act? The media should respect that behind an achievement, there is a sacrifice and everybody has a personal life that should not be eroded to have fun. Only a lucky few inherit the vast business empire of their parents, rest have to do everything on their own, and trust me the things are not served on a platter. The governments worldwide sometimes try to show billionaires as evil so that they can avoid their basic work, the government is the real service provider to whom you pay taxes. It’s not the duty of Mukesh Ambani or Jeff Bezos to build roads, they create jobs and opportunities for millions of people and people should respect them for being an entrepreneur and make them stay away from toxic politics. Capitalism is not an evil thing, the world economy is based on money, even the social acts can be done if you have money in your pocket, hence earning money is good and should be appreciated. Honestly and smartly earned money always creates a legacy.
There is a quote who once lost in love wins in life? Does it work for you?
It does not work automatically, you have to make it work for your life. This incident of seeing my girlfriend getting married happened while I was in college. She belonged to a different religion and rich enough. So, one fine day, the dream ended when the love affair was caught, her father made sure that I attend the marriage of her daughter and I did that. It was extremely painful to see your 4 years plus love getting collapsed, but it gave me new energy to stand up in life. There is an Indian movie called Rockstar, I can easily relate my character with Ranbir Kapoor in that movie. Being stubborn, but soft in heart. People still have different assumptions about me, and you know, I don’t care what they think.
One superstition that you believe in and you follow?
I am not a superstitious person but yes in my childhood just before I used to leave for the school I used to pray 40-50 minutes per day, this used to wake me up at 3 am I used to try to impress all the Hindu Gods. I did this for 7 years continuously, I stayed away from girls in my whole school life. Things changed with time, my relationship with God has become more friendly. I still seek blessings of God every day but not by visiting temples but by connecting through my soul. I fast for 9 days in Navratri. I stay away from self-proclaimed Gods. I have become more intellectual thanks to Sadhguru, whom I adore and respect as a teacher and not as God. I learned a lot from books that I read on several subjects. You become what you read, but that needs dedication, isolation, and focus, collecting books and giving them a partial reading every blue moon does not help. Hardly anybody around me sees me without a book, a newspaper, or an e-book, I constantly read things and I love this more than anything else. Just learn how to sit peacefully in life and things will start changing, reduce your emotional dependence on people around you. Always remember, one day you have to go away from this earth, you are just nobody, and if you fail to exist as a successful person you did not work hard enough. Don’t try to please people around you, if you are in a bad emotional state, try to find the cause for it and try to exit the situation. Detaching yourself from the people around you will give you psychological pain but you will find solace with yourself.
You can share a lot on social media but you remain silent on it too…why?
I am active on Twitter, I have an Instagram account but I don’t share much. Though, from next year I will be more open with the people. I will share my personal experiences through videos and posts. I think I can talk sense now and I will try to be more social on social media.
Tell us any three things which nobody knows about you
I spend a lot of time watching documentaries, my free time is directed towards making me productive. I love astronomy and I love books on history, I have a vast collection of books focused on history. Another bonus thing which you should know is that I have subscribed to over 47 newspapers worldwide.
One actress whom you would like to marry
Rakul Preet Singh and if she says no, the next try will be on Vaani Kapoor (laughs). Both of these women are charming and gracious. Though marriage is not based on beauty and the brain, it is based on patience and understanding.