Business
This Woman Began Her Entrepreneurial Journey at 50, Today She’s A Billionaire
Falguni Nayar’s rise from a top investment banker to one of India’s most successful self‑made billionaires is one of the most remarkable entrepreneurial stories of the last decade. Today, she is the founder and CEO of Nykaa, a beauty and lifestyle powerhouse that reshaped how Indians discover and shop for cosmetics. Her journey blends corporate expertise, late‑career reinvention, and a sharp understanding of India’s evolving consumer landscape. (Image: X)
Falguni Nayar was born and raised in a Gujarati family in Mumbai. She completed her Commerce degree at Sydenham College and later earned an MBA in Finance from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, one of India’s most prestigious business schools. Her strong academic foundation in finance and business strategy would later become the backbone of her entrepreneurial success. (Image: X)
Before Nykaa, Nayar spent nearly 20 years at Kotak Mahindra Bank, eventually becoming the Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Capital, the bank’s investment banking arm. (Image: X)
During her tenure (1993-2012), she advised some of India’s biggest companies on IPOs, mergers, and acquisitions. This experience gave her a deep understanding of capital markets, strong relationships with corporate leaders, insight into building and scaling businesses, and the confidence to eventually launch her own venture. Despite her success, she always harbored an entrepreneurial dream. (Image: X)
In 2012, at the age of 50, Falguni Nayar left her high‑profile banking career to start Nykaa, a move many considered risky. She launched the company as FSN E‑Commerce Ventures, named after her initials (Falguni Sanjay Nayar). (Image: X)
Her vision was clear: India needed a trusted, curated beauty retailer similar to Sephora, offering authentic products and expert guidance. Nykaa began as an online beauty store but quickly expanded into multi‑brand retail stores, private‑label beauty and fashion lines, and a massive influencer‑driven content ecosystem. (Image: X)
Nykaa grew rapidly by focusing on
– Authenticity: At a time when counterfeit beauty products were common, Nykaa’s “100% authentic” promise built trust.
– Content + Commerce Strategy: Tutorials, reviews, and influencer partnerships helped educate consumers and drive sales.
– Omnichannel Expansion: Nykaa opened physical stores across India, blending online convenience with offline experience.
– Category Diversification: Nykaa Fashion, launched later, expanded the brand into apparel and accessories. (Image: X)
In 2021, Nykaa went public in one of India’s most celebrated IPOs, making Falguni Nayar one of the country’s richest self‑made women. According to the Forbes India Rich List (2024), Falguni Nayar and family ranked 71st with a net worth of $4.2 billion. She is one of only two self‑made female billionaires in India. Her achievements have earned her numerous awards and global recognition as a trailblazing entrepreneur. (Image: Mexy Xavier/ForbesIndia)
Business
Stock Market Live Updates: Sensex, Nifty Hit Record Highs; Bank Nifty Climbs 60,000 For The First Time
Stock Market News Live Updates: Indian equity benchmarks opened with a strong gap-up on Monday, December 1, touching fresh record highs, buoyed by a sharp acceleration in Q2FY26 GDP growth to a six-quarter peak of 8.2%. Positive cues from Asian markets further lifted investor sentiment.
The BSE Sensex was trading at 85,994, up 288 points or 0.34%, after touching an all-time high of 86,159 in early deals. The Nifty 50 stood at 26,290, higher by 87 points or 0.33%, after scaling a record intraday high of 26,325.8.
Broader markets also saw gains, with the Midcap index rising 0.27% and the Smallcap index advancing 0.52%.
On the sectoral front, the Nifty Bank hit a historic milestone by crossing the 60,000 mark for the first time, gaining 0.4% to touch a fresh peak of 60,114.05.
Meanwhile, the Metal and PSU Bank indices climbed 0.8% each in early trade.
Global cues
Asia-Pacific markets were mostly lower on Monday as traders assessed fresh Chinese manufacturing data and increasingly priced in the likelihood of a US Federal Reserve rate cut later this month.
According to the CME FedWatch Tool, markets are now assigning an 87.4 per cent probability to a rate cut at the Fed’s December 10 meeting.
China’s factory activity unexpectedly slipped back into contraction in November, with the RatingDog China General Manufacturing PMI by S&P Global easing to 49.9, below expectations of 50.5, as weak domestic demand persisted.
Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 1.6 per cent, while the broader Topix declined 0.86 per cent. In South Korea, the Kospi dropped 0.30 per cent and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 was down 0.31 per cent.
US stock futures were steady in early Asian trade after a positive week on Wall Street. On Friday, in a shortened post-Thanksgiving session, the Nasdaq Composite climbed 0.65 per cent to 23,365.69, its fifth consecutive day of gains.
The S&P 500 rose 0.54 per cent to 6,849.09, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 289.30 points, or 0.61 per cent, to close at 47,716.42.
Osmond ChiaBusiness reporter
Getty ImagesSouth Korea’s largest online retailer, Coupang, has apologised for a massive data breach potentially involving nearly 34 million local customer accounts.
The country’s internet authority said that it is investigating the breach and that details from the millions of accounts have likely been exposed.
Coupang is often described as South Korea’s equivalent of Amazon.com. The breach marks the latest in a series of data leaks at major firms in the country, including its telecommunications giant, SK Telecom.
Coupang told the BBC it became aware of the unauthorised access of personal data of about 4,500 customer accounts on 18 November and immediately reported it to the authorities.
But later checks found that some 33.7 million customer accounts – all in South Korea – were likely exposed, said Coupang, adding that the breach is believed to have begun as early as June through a server based overseas.
The exposed data is limited to name, email address, phone number, shipping address and some order histories, Coupang said.
No credit card information or login credentials were leaked. Those details remain securely protected and no action is required from Coupang users at this point, the firm added.
The number of accounts affected by the incident represents more than half of South Korea’s roughly-52 million population.
Coupang, which is founded in South Korea and headquartered in the US, said recently that it had nearly 25 million active users.
Coupang apologised to its customers and warned them to stay alert to scams impersonating the company.
The firm did not give details on who is behind the breach.
South Korean media outlets reported on Sunday that a former Coupang employee from China was suspected of being behind the breach.
The authorities are assessing the scale of the breach as well as whether Coupang had broken any data protection safety rules, South Korea’s Ministry of Science and ICT said in a statement.
“As the breach involves the contact details and addresses of a large number of citizens, the Commission plans to conduct a swift investigation and impose strict sanctions if it finds a violation of the duty to implement safety measures under the Protection Act.”
The incident marks the latest in a series of breaches affecting major South Korean companies this year, despite the country’s reputation for stringent data privacy rules.
SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest mobile operator, was fined nearly $100m (£76m) over a data breach involving more than 20 million subscribers.
In September, Lotte Cards also said the data of nearly three million customers was leaked after a cyber-attack on the credit card firm.
Agency workers hired to cover Birmingham bin strikers will join them on picket lines on Monday, a union has said.
A rally will be held by Unite The Union at Smithfield Depot on Pershore Street, Birmingham, on Monday morning to mark the first day of strike action by agency refuse workers.
Unite said the Job & Talent agency workers had voted in favour of strike action “over bullying, harassment and the threat of blacklisting at the council’s refuse department two weeks ago”.
The union said the number of agency workers who will join the strike action is “growing daily”.
Strikes by directly-employed bin workers, which have been running since January, could continue beyond May’s local elections.
The directly-employed bin workers voted in favour of extending their industrial action mandate earlier this month.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Birmingham council will only resolve this dispute when it stops the appalling treatment of its workforce.
“Agency workers have now joined with directly-employed staff to stand up against the massive injustices done to them.
“Instead of wasting millions more of council taxpayers’ money fighting a dispute it could settle justly for a fraction of the cost, the council needs to return to talks with Unite and put forward a fair deal for all bin workers.
“Strikes will not end until it does.”
Stock Market Live Updates: Sensex, Nifty Hit Record Highs; Bank Nifty Climbs 60,000 For The First Time
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