Radhakishan Damani and Family

DMart has one retail rule: own everything, discount everything, expand slowly.

Radhakishan Damani built his initial wealth as a value investor in Indian equities, known for positions held over long periods and a disinclination to explain himself publicly. DMart, which he launched in 2002, carried the same logic into retail. The model was deliberately narrow: own the stores rather than lease them, keep prices consistently low by controlling costs, and avoid the aggressive geographic expansion that had consumed capital and margin for most organised retail competitors.

DMart now has over 340 stores, concentrated in Western and Southern India, and the holding company is valued at roughly Rs 2.85 lakh crore. Damani's personal investments outside retail, including early positions in Zomato and Lenskart, have also proved significant. The consistency across his investing career and his retail business reflects a preference for owning assets rather than renting them, and a low appetite for growth that requires capital to be deployed faster than returns can be measured.