Ad-Tech Billionaire: How Divyank Turakhia Sold His Venture for $900 Million.

Divyank Turakhia’s rise is a classic tale of an Indian entrepreneur who merged technical genius with bold business instincts. Born in Mumbai, he started programming when he was just eight years old. He and his older brother Bhavin founded their first company, Directi, as teenagers, with a modest capital borrowed from their father. Over the years, that early spark turned into a sprawling set of technology ventures, but the crown jewel would become Media.net.

Media.net, launched in 2010, was Divyank’s vision of contextual advertising done right. The platform powered publisher websites with ads matched to their content, drawing on relationships with major players like Yahoo and Microsoft. Under his leadership, Media.net grew rapidly, generating most of its revenues from the U.S. market.

In August 2016, Divyank and Bhavin made headlines by selling Media.net to a Chinese consortium led by Beijing Miteno Communication Technology for a staggering $900 million. The deal was structured in phases: approximately $426 million was paid upfront, while the remaining sum would come later as per their agreement. For the Turakhia brothers, it was a high-stakes move they pulled off without ever raising traditional venture capital — they had bootstrapped their way up.

This deal was more than just a payday. It represented one of the largest ever ad-tech exits globally. What made it striking was that even after the sale, Divyank planned to stay on and run Media.net from within the new ownership structure. He saw this not just as an exit, but as an opportunity to scale further, particularly in China, where the ad-tech market was growing fast.

That sale catapulted Divyank into the billionaire’s club. His net worth soared, and his reputation in India’s startup ecosystem was cemented: here was a coder turned serial entrepreneur, who built multiple companies from scratch. He has spoken publicly about how learning remains central to his success he reads hundreds of hours each year, always hunting for fresh ideas.

In 2018, Divyank stepped down as CEO of Media.net, writing to his team with a message about relentless innovation and the risk of getting complacent. He insisted that they were “always in version 1.0” for everything, signalling his belief that entrepreneurship is a long journey, not a final destination.

For Indian business and startup leaders, his story holds powerful lessons. You do not need external funding to build a global business. Deep technical skill plus long-term thinking can yield huge value. And an exit is not just about cash — it is about building something that can grow even bigger under new ownership. Divyank Turakhia’s journey is a real-world blueprint for leadership, growth, and ambition in the Indian entrepreneurship ecosystem.