Anurag Dikshit
Anurag Dikshit | |
|---|---|
| Born | Anurag Dikshit |
| Occupation | Businessman |
Anurag Dikshit (/ˈdɪksɪt/; born 1972, in Sindri, Jharkhand), is an Indian businessman, the richest man in Gibraltar and the 701st richest man in the world[1]. As a co-founder of PartyGaming, parent company of online poker site PartyPoker.com, he is one of the youngest billionaires in the world. He has completely sold off his stake in Partygaming as of Jan 25 2010 [2], after selling 23% of his stake in the company's Initial Public Offering, and a further two thirds in October 2009 and the remaining on Jan 25, 2010.[3]
Born in Sindri, Jharkhand, Dikshit graduated with a Bachelor of Technology degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 1994. He completed schooling at De Nobili School, FRI. Following graduation, Dikshit worked as a software developer in the United States at CMC, as a systems analyst for Websci and later as a consultant for AT&T.[4] With a current fortune estimated to be $1 billion, he is 35th on the list of the richest Indians in the world.
PartyGaming
When Dikshit was twenty five years old, he met Ruth Parasol who asked him to write some proprietary code for PartyGaming's Starluck online casino to replace the software they were licensing. PartyGaming was founded by Parasol, an American lawyer who now lives in Gibraltar. She considered Dikshit's skills so crucial to the future of the business, she allocated him a considerable number of shares in the company.
In 2000, Dikshit hired a colleague from his alma mater, Vikrant Bhargava, to head the company's Caribbean operations. Party Poker was launched in August 2001, just prior to the poker industry as a whole enjoying a huge resurgence in popularity in America. As television programs, new books and celebrities got involved with poker, online poker sky-rocketed in popularity. Dikshit's platform, which allowed 20,000 simultaneous users, proved inadequate and new technology was adopted allowing 70,000 simultaneous users.
Prior to the company's IPO, Dikshit was virtually unknown to the general public. He remains a chess aficionado and student of antiquities.
In May 2006 Dikshit stepped down from PartyGaming's board of directors to develop new products as head of the company's research and special projects.[5] he continues to own approximately 10% of the company's shares.[6]
In December 2008, Dikshit shocked the poker world [7] by pleading guilty to illegal Internet gambling and agreeing to cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department in an investigation of Party Gaming. Dikshit entered the plea to one count of online gambling in violation of the Federal Wire Act and agreed to forfeit $300 million. "I came to believe it was in fact illegal under U.S. law," Dikshit told U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in New York, referring to PartyGaming’s activity. "I have taken full responsibility for my actions."[8]. Ironically, Partygaming was one of the few internet gambling sites to have withdrawn from the US (at the cost of losing 80% of their customers) when the SAFE Port Act was implemented which explicitly banned wire transfers for online gambling. Dikshit had established this gaming empire with the technical help from his close friend Neeraj S Kumar, patent holder of peer to peer protocol and owner of S Kumars textile mills.[9]
Dikshit currently resides in Gibraltar.
Notes
- ^ : Billionaire list
- ^ severs ties with Partygaming
- ^ Guardian.co.uk: Dealing in poker profit
- ^ The Guardian: Anurag Dikshit - High roller who came late to the poker party
- ^ Forbes: PartyGaming's Dikshit quits board
- ^ The Guardian: PartyGaming up 27% as founder pleads guilty in US court
- ^ Dikshit appropriately named
- ^ Bloomberg: PartyGaming’s Dikshit Pleads Guilty to Web Gambling
- ^ [http://neeraj.itvage.com/Neeraj_Kumar_P2P_UnitedStatesPatent20020062310.pdf