4 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Oct 10, 2025 05:55 PM IST
As an industry, Bollywood has a million stories about the people who didn’t make it and the dreams that were never realised. There are a few hundred accounts of stars who broke through the grasps of their own reality and made a name for themselves. Shah Rukh Khan is one of the biggest examples, as he is the second richest man in Bollywood. But the man who is worth more than the Badshah himself isn’t an actor, singer, composer or director. He is a producer, and his name is Ronnie Screwvala.
According to the Hurun India Rich List 2025, Ronnie is the richest man in Bollywood, sitting at a net worth of $1.5 billion, which is around Rs 13,314 crore. He has not only taken over the whole game, but his competition, like Bhushan Kumar and Aditya Chopra, didn’t even feature on the list this time around. Beginning his journey with a toothbrush manufacturing company, Ronnie moved on to his biggest venture: UTV. The production house is responsible for backing films like Swades, Lakshya, Rang De Basanti, Jodhaa Akbar, A Wednesday and so much more.
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Going bankrupt thrice, couldn’t pay salaries
In a recent appearance on CareerSh** Advice, Ronnie recalled his early days in business and how working in a corporate structure for just a few weeks made him realise that he couldn’t work under a boss. He said, “My first job was as a copywriter. I worked in an ad agency for three months. In the first month I realised that I was smarter than my boss. I think in about another month, it was quite clear that I didn’t want to work for somebody else’s vision. I wanted to do something of my own; I wasn’t sure what, though. The first 25 people I hired were actually interviewed by their parents. I loved the candidates; they just wanted me to meet and convince their parents.”
He continued and said, “We started in a basement, and the power used to go off every day for one hour. The parents came to look at the office, and seeing our office didn’t help it. There were a few things that worked for me in the beginning, because we went bankrupt three times before I ever fired anybody. So by that time everyone knew that the only reason they would get fired is if they really did something wrong. That builds a certain level of trust. Actually, the first time I couldn’t afford their payroll was the day they took me out for a drink.”
Who is Ronnie Screwvala?
Born Rohinton Sole Screwvala, he is a producer, investor and entrepreneur. Hurun’s rich list isn’t the only famed ranking he has been a part of; he has also been named to Esquire and Time’s lists of the most influential people in the world. His company, UTV Software Communication, worked closely with behemoths such as 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Company and Bloomberg, among others. He ultimately sold the company to Disney for $1.4 billion.He came back into the business 5 years later with RSVP Movies and made their first film, Love Per Square Foot, starring Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar. They also produced the popular anthology film Lust Stories, consisting of films helmed by Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar, Dibakar Banerjee, and Karan Johar. He has produced films such as Rang De Basanti, Jodhaa Akbar and Swades, among many others.
Bollywood’s richest stars
While Ronnie is sitting comfortably at the top, he is followed by Shah Rukh (Rs 12500 cr), Karan Johar (Rs 1880 cr), and Amitabh Bachchan and Family (Rs 1630 cr). Juhi Chawla (Rs 7790 cr) and Hrithik Roshan (Rs 2160 cr) also made this list.
According to Hurun India Rich List, Ronnie Screwvala is the richest man in Bollywood. (Photo: Express Archive)