Nirav Modi

Diamond jeweler Nirav Modi made a splash at a Sotheby's auction in Hong Kong last year with an 88-carat diamond necklace, which sold for $8 million. The Wharton dropout, who counts several of India's wealthiest among his clients, is now aiming to expand domestic sales of his $1.7 billion (revenues) Firestar International. He's opened two Nirav Modi-branded retail stores in Delhi and Mumbai with a jewelry line priced at $4,000 and up. Modi, who grew up in Belgium in a family of diamond traders, is planning to open stores in New York and Hong Kong next. He's an avid art collector. Modi’s family history is fairly well known—he comes from a line of diamond traders from Palanpur, Gujarat. His grandfather Keshavlal Modi made his way from Mumbai to Singapore, selling rough diamonds in the 1930s and 1940s. Two decades later, his father Deepak Modi set up shop in Antwerp, Belgium, the world’s diamond capital, where Modi grew up. After dropping out of college, Nirav came to Mumbai as a 19-year-old for an apprenticeship under his maternal uncle Mehul Choksi, chairman of jewellery retailer Gitanjali group. After nearly a decade into the trade, Modi ventured out independently, sourcing diamonds from around the world and selling them to jewellery makers. He set up Firestone Diamond in 1999, later re-christened Firestar Diamond. The company rapidly expanded through partnerships with and acquisitions of diamond retailers in the US, Belgium, and Armenia. In 2010, the firm partnered with Rio Tinto to sell rare Argyle pink diamonds in India. Firestar claims to have several hundreds of copyrights, trademarks, and patents to its name. After designing a pair of earrings for a friend in 2009, Modi decided to venture into jewellery designing. His claim to fame was a Golconda diamond necklace made with a rare diamond mined in Hyderabad. It was sold in November 2010 for $3 million at an auction held by British auction house Christie’s. A month later, Modi launched his first jewellery store in New Delhi, branding it after himself. Two years on, at an auction held in Hong Kong by another British auctioneer, Sotheby’s, Modi sold his handiwork for $5.1 million. Now, there are 17 Nirav Modi stores worldwide.