Alakh Pandey was born on October 2, 1991, in Uttar Pradesh's Allahabad into a lower-middle-class family. His father, Satish Pandey was a private contractor, while his mother, Rajat Pandey was a teacher. Right from an early age, Alakh saw financial crises quite closely and knew the importance of money in life. From seeing his father selling a portion of their house to meet their daily expenses to selling it all after some time, his family shifted to a rented apartment in a slum area.
When he was just in class six, Alakh Pandey started giving tuition to his classmates and juniors. The youngster used to travel 5 kilometers daily far from his village in order to teach students, who used to pay him. At that time, Alakh was earning Rs. 200 from his tuitions and continued teaching kids until he left school. After completing his schooling, he tried cracking the IIT-JEE entrance exams but failed miserably.
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Right from an early age, Alakh Pandey was programmed to deal with obstacles. Hence, he appeared in the Uttar Pradesh State Combined Entrance Examination (UPSCEE) and got an impressive rank. On the basis of his rank in UPSCEE, Alakh got admission to Kanpur's Harcourt Butler Technical Institute (HBTI). He pursued a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering but dropped out of it in the fourth year.
When Alakh Pandey decided to drop out of college in the fourth year of his B.tech degree, many people tried to stop him, but he had made up his mind and believed in his vision. Alakh returned to his hometown in Prayagraj and decided to open a YouTube channel. According to YouTube, Alakh Pandey opened his YouTube channel on January 28, 2014, under the name, Physics Wallah. In a span of ten years, he has uploaded 1,608 videos, has 12.8 million subscribers, and garnered more than 265 crore views.
Alakh Pandey's method of teaching complex topics with practical methods and simplifying them for children skyrocketed his popularity across India. After getting a massive response on his YouTube channel, Alakh transformed it into a company by the same name. He was joined by Prateek Maheshwari and together they founded the ed-tech platform, Physics Wallah in 2020.
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Fast-forward to 2024, and Alakh Pandey's YouTube channel, website and offline coaching centres, Physics Wallah have become a one-stop destination for aspirants of major competitive exams like JEE, CA intermediate, GATE, UPSC, PSC, NDA, IIT JAM, and many more. For the uninitiated, before opening his YouTube channel, Alakh used to teach students in his hometown and was earning Rs. 5000, but as of now, he reportedly earns Rs. 7.35 crores annually.
According to a report in AajTak, Alakh Pandey's net worth is estimated at Rs. 4,500 crores. At the mere age of 32, Alakh is tenth on the List of India's Youngest Billionaires. With BYJU's groundbreaking downfall, many market experts have predicted that Physics Wallah can double its users and capitalise on the tragedy that can lead it to even bigger figures.
Physics Wallah's founder, Alakh Pandey is married to a freelance journalist, Shivani Dubey, who has done an MSc in Chemistry. The couple met at Alakh's office through a mutual friend, and after interacting a couple of times, they fell in love with each other. Alakh and Shivani got married on February 22, 2023.
What are your thoughts on Alakh Pandey's journey from a college dropout to billionaire? Let us know.
Also Read: Highest-Paid YouTube Teachers In India: Physics Wallah, Khan Sir, Aman Dattarwal, Dear Sir, More
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