Meet the Robinhood founders: Indian American Baiju Bhatt and Bulgarian American Vladimir Tenev

Welcome to the Robinhood-style stock market! In February 2020 as the global economy collapsed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, millions of people in the United States, who had more time on their hands and a $1,200 stimulus check began trading online via the Silicon Valley upstart, Robinhood, which is a mobile-friendly brokerage app created by Vladimir Tenev and Baiju Bhatt in 2013.

Tenev and Bhatt built Robin Hood by making their app free, easy to use and addictive. They chose the name based on the legendary outlaw who took from the rich and gave to the poor. Their mission was to allow even the most capitalism-weary Millennial to trade and the objective to “democratize finance for all.” was achieved.

Vladimir Tenev was born in Bulgaria, and his parents migrated to the United States when he was five. He grew up in Washington DC, where both his parents worked for the World Bank. He earned a degree in mathematics from Stanford University, where he met Baiju Bhatt. He went on to UCLA to earn a PhD in mathematics, but dropped out to start a company with Bhatt.

Before the GameStop announcement that happened on Thursday, Tenev was acclaimed for his work on the app. When he was 28, Tenev was recognized in Forbes magazine’s 30 under 30 for finance and the Fortune 40 under 40 list.

Baiju Bhatt is a first-generation American, the son of Indian immigrants. He enrolled in the masters level mathematics program and graduated from Stanford with his graduate degree in 2008.

Bhatt is an avid reader, an intermittent faster and always makes sure to schedule outdoor time.

How much is Robinhood worth? Since its creation eight years ago, Robinhood has seen it value increase by billions of dollars each year. According to Businessofapps, the valuation of Robinhood in 2017 was $1.3billion, in 2018 it was $5.6billion, in 2019 it grew to $7billion and by 2020 it reached $10.2billion. The company has 13 million users as of its most recent filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. But at times, its popularity has outpaced the build-out of its operations.

Who is Robinhood’s CEO Vlad Tenev’s wife, Celina Tenev? Not much is known about Celina Tenev, Vlad Teven’s wife. However, her LinkedIn profile shows that she is the co-founder of a company providing on-demand emergency care, Call9. She went to Stanford University for four years at the School of Medicine, as a postdoctoral fellow.

Robinhood's highly polished app has lured millions of investors with an experience that seemed to defy Wall Street's usual physics. With a focus on immediacy, the firm lets new arrivals start trading as soon as they set up a bank transfer. It awards them a free stock for signing up. And then there's the shiniest lure of all: No fee for trades.

In the latest update after restricting trading on some stocks amid customer ire and regulatory scrutiny, Robinhood has said it raised more than $1 billion from investors, which it called "a strong sign of confidence from investors that will help us continue to further serve our customers." Robinhood's capital remains "strong," CEO Tenev told Bloomberg TV, underscoring that the restrictions helped protect both the brokerage and its clients.