Gautam Thapar is the Founder and Chairman of Avanta Group who has an estimated net worth of $1.05 billion as of October 2012. He is the 60th richest person in India and was ranked 913rd in the list of World Billionaires. Born on December 7, 1960, he studied chemical engineering at Pratt Institute in the United States.

Thapar began accumulating his estimated net worth of $1.05 billion as a factory assistant in a manufacturing unit of Thapar Group. He gained the attention of Lalit Mohan and he rapidly promoted through the ranks. He is known for turnarounds and his first was with the Andhra Pradesh Rayons (APR). He also did the same for the new export oriented business in BILT which included leather, shoes and foods.

In 1999, the family’s assets were divided into four. Gautam’s older brother parted ways in 2005. On July 22, 2004, he became the Chairman of Crompton Grooves. He was named the Chairman of Avanta Group on July 1, 2006. Currently, he is on the Board of several companies in India and abroad.

Gautam Thapar is one of the few whose net worth went down by nearly half a billion. The main businesses of Avanta group have struggled. His shares at the flagship Crompton Greaves, the maker of power equipment, also fell by 16% due to the rising costs, Chinese competition, and weak European markets. Its paper firm Ballarpur Industries saw margins fall due to supply glut. The Group is reported mulling an insurance venture with Ergo, the arm of Munich Re.