Anurag Dikshit
Anurag Dikshit (/ˈdɪksɪt/; born 1973, in Dhanbad Jharkhand), is an Indian businessman.[1] Anurag has given away the vast majority of his wealth through his charitable organisation The Kusuma Trust.[2] He sold off the remainder of his stake in PartyGaming in January 2010,[3] after selling 23% of his stake in the company's Initial Public Offering, and a further two thirds of the remainder, in October 2009.[4]
Born in Dhanbad, Jharkhand, Dikshit graduated with a Bachelor of Technology degree in Computer Science and Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in 1994. He completed schooling at De Nobili School, FRI. Following graduation, Dikshit worked as a software developer in the United States at CMC, as a systems analyst for Websci and later as a consultant for AT&T.[5]
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PartyGaming [edit]
At age 26, Dikshit was asked by Partygaming founder[6] American Ruth Parasol to write the company’s betting software. His programme enabled gamblers around the world to play one another in poker. After seeing Anurag’s impressive skills with programming firsthand, he was given a large number of shares in the company to continue working with PartyGaming.
In 2000, Dikshit hired a friend from his alma mater, Vikrant Bhargava, to begin working at PartyGaming with him and others. Party Poker was launched in August 2001, just prior to the poker industry as a whole enjoying a huge resurgence in popularity in America. As television programs, new books and celebrities got involved with poker, online poker skyrocketed in popularity. Dikshit's platform, which allowed 20,000 simultaneous users, proved inadequate and new technology was adopted allowing 70,000 simultaneous users.
In May 2006 Dikshit stepped down from PartyGaming's board of directors to develop new products as head of the company's research and special projects and left PartyGaming completely in November 2006.[7] As of December 2008 he still owned approximately 28% of the company's shares.[8]
Despite PartyGaming being one of the first online gaming companies to pull out of the US market, in December 2008, Dikshit agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Justice Department in an investigation of PartyGaming. Dikshit entered a guilty plea to one count of online gambling in violation of the Federal Wire Act and agreed to forfeit $300 million. "I came to believe there was a high probability it was in violation of U.S. laws", Dikshit told U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff in New York, referring to PartyGaming’s activity. "I have taken full responsibility for my actions."[9] It was Anurag who initiated the process with US Department of Justice,[10] even though the Department of Justice had not opened a case against him. Dikshit no longer personally owns any shares in PartyGaming, the proceeds of the share sales completed in January 2010 [11] having been donated to the Kusuma Trust.
2007 – The Kusuma Trust [edit]
Anurag now lives in Gibraltar where he runs The Kusuma Trust (Gibraltar),[12] a charitable trust which was founded by Anurag and his wife. The trust was set up in early 2007 in order to structure their previously unorganised charitable efforts to achieve higher impact. The Trust is a registered charity in Gibraltar [Registration Number: 196] and is as such subject to the control of the Gibraltar Charities Commission. The Kusuma Trust (Gibraltar) provides financial backing to a broad range of pioneering humanitarian [13] and educational projects [14] primarily in Gibraltar and India.
References [edit]
- ^ Online Gambling Billionaire Cashes In. Forbes.com (2009-10-20). Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ PartyGaming Anurag Dikshit founder sells stake for £188m. Telegraph (2009-10-20). Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ Daily Telegraph, 25 January 2010 PartyGaming founder Anurag Dikshit severs ties with company after £114m share sale
- ^ Nils Pratley, The Guardian, 20 October 2009, Guardian.co.uk: Dealing in poker profit
- ^ Anurag Dikshit – High roller who came late to the poker party. The Guardian. Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ Ruth Parasol. Bonitatrust.org. Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ PartyGaming's Dikshit quits board. Forbes (2006-05-24). Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ The Guardian, 17 December 2008, PartyGaming up 27% as founder pleads guilty in US court
- ^ Larson, Erik. (2008-12-16) PartyGaming’s Dikshit Pleads Guilty to Web Gambling. Bloomberg. Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ Vardi, Nathan. (2010-12-16) Convicted Former Online Poker Billionaire Avoids Jail – Nathan Vardi – The Jungle – Forbes. Blogs.forbes.com. Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ Anurag Dikshit Sells Remaining Stake in Party Gaming. Pokernewsdaily.com (2009-10-20). Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ [1][dead link]
- ^ Gibraltar Chronicle – The Independent Daily First Published 1801. Chronicle.gi (2010-02-22). Retrieved on 2011-06-15.
- ^ Anurag Dikshit Facilitates Setting up of 20 additional Kusuma Outstanding Young Faculty Fellowships, Kusuma Truest
