Early Life
Baiju Prafulkumar Bhatt was born in 1984 to Gujarati immigrants in the United States. His parents moved to the US after his father was accepted into a PhD program at the University of Huntsville, Alabama. He grew up in Poquoson, Virginia. His family faced financial hardships, particularly when his father was diagnosed with kidney failure. Bhatt studied physics and mathematics at Stanford University, earning a bachelor's degree in physics and a master's degree in mathematics in 2008. During his time at Stanford, he met Vlad Tenev, who would later become his co-founder at Robinhood.
Rise to Success
In 2013, Bhatt and Tenev co-founded Robinhood, a financial services platform designed to make investing more accessible by eliminating traditional brokerage fees. The platform gained rapid growth, attracting millions of users. Bhatt served as co-CEO until 2020 and later as Chief Creative Officer, stepping back from executive duties in March 2024, though he remains on Robinhood's board of directors. Robinhood went public in 2021 with a $32 billion valuation.
Key Business Strategies
Robinhood's key strategy was to offer commission-free trading, which disrupted the brokerage industry and attracted a large customer base. The company focused on user-friendly design and mobile access. Bhatt emphasized user research. As of 2024, Robinhood's revenue reached $2.95 billion. In October 2024, Bhatt launched Aetherflux, a space-based solar energy startup.
Philanthropy
No specific details of philanthropic initiatives have been publicly documented as of 2025.