From Mukesh Ambani to Azhar Iqubal, 6 IIT Dropouts Who Became Famous

TOI-Online Nov 4, 2024

IIT: A Dream For Many

IIT is a dream for engineering aspirants, with over 1.4 million students competing in challenging entrance exams for a chance to enroll. These institutes consistently rank highly in NIRF rankings. Image Source: Agency

IIT Placements

The IITs are renowned for excellent placements and high employability, offering average annual packages of 23 to 24 lakhs. While placement statistics vary by course, placement rates are consistently high among IIT graduates. Image Source: Agency

IIT Dropouts

However, there are a few legends who have dropped out of IIT and charted remarkably successful career paths. From top business owners to corporate consultants these IIT dropouts have made a name for themselves in different walks of life. Image Source: Agency

Mukesh Ambani

The leading business tycoon and one of the richest persons of the world dropped out of IIT Bombay to pursue a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from the University of Mumbai. He gained admission to Stanford's MBA programme but left in 1981 to join the family business. Image Source: BCCL

Rahul Yadav

An entrepreneur who founded Info Edge-funded 4B Networks and SoftBank-backed Housing.com dropped out of IIT in his final year in 2007 after struggling to fit in. Image Source: X-er_rahulyadav

M. Damodaran

Meleveetil Damodaran is an Indian corporate consultant and former senior government official on the boards of Biocon and InterGlobe Aviation (IndiGo). He left IIT Madras to study economics and later became chairman of the Securities and Exchange Board. Image Source: Via-LinkedIn

Azhar Iqubal

This Indian entrepreneur who is a co-founder and chairman of a famous app. He dropped out of IIT and established a 600-crore app company named Inshorts. Image Source: TOI

Shashvat Nakrani

Nakrani, co-founder of the BharatPe app, is one of the youngest entrepreneurs, leaving IIT at 23 to pursue his passion. He gained recognition by appearing on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2021. Image Source: X-NakraniShashvat

Prashant Bhushan

He is an author and a public interest lawyer in the Supreme Court of India. Bhushan gained admission to IIT and dropped out after the first semester to pursue a two-year B.Sc programme in Philosophy, Economics, and Political Science. Image Source: TOI

Next: 10 countries with the poorest employment rates according to the ILO

Thanks For Reading! Read Next