gangwal
One of the promoters of IndiGo—the world’s fourth most valuable airline by market capitalization—and the former chairman of Southwest Airlines, Rakesh Gangwal, has reaped around $5 billion from IndiGo stake sales so far, selling nearly 37% of his holding in the airline over the last three years.
With the latest IndiGo stake sale carried out just last week, valued at around $500 million, Gangwal is now close to exiting an airline he created two and a half decades ago. He owns just around 6% of IndiGo, which, at the current market capitalization of about $26 billion, is worth nearly $1.5 billion. This balance stake is widely expected to be diluted by next year, in line with his earlier announcement that he would sell all his shares in tranches from 2022 to 2027.
If IndiGo’s stock—already up more than 20% in the last year and an astonishing 350% in the previous five years—continues to rise, there could be further windfall gains for the IndiGo promoter. In effect, as things stand, Gangwal—who invested around $1.8 million in IndiGo in 2005—could ultimately mop up close to $7 billion from IndiGo shares (though markets can also dive, as they have in the past, reducing gains). This makes it one of the most successful aviation investments in India’s – and potentially even global – airline history.
To be sure, the stake sale came against the backdrop of a fallout with fellow IndiGo co-founder Rahul Bhatia, who runs InterGlobe Enterprises. That dispute had eventually triggered Gangwal’s decision to exit the airline.
The sale also coincided with Forbes’ Richest Immigrant Billionaires 2025 list, led by Elon Musk (South Africa, $393.1 billion), Sergey Brin (Russia, $139.7 billion), and Jensen Huang (Taiwan, $137.9 billion). A record 125 foreign-born U.S. citizens are now billionaires, hailing from 41 countries but making their fortunes in America. India contributed the highest number with 12 billionaires, followed by Israel and Taiwan with 11 each. Rakesh Gangwal was in 29th place with a net worth of $6.6 billion.
Airlines are also notorious wealth destroyers—but Gangwal is clearly one of the rare few who has defied that rule. On Forbes’ list of immigrant billionaires, he is the only one to have built a fortune of over $5 billion almost entirely from an airline.
Miami-based Gangwal, 72, has also been making global headlines not just for his IndiGo exit but also for his sudden entry into Southwest Airlines’ leadership. Last year, he stunned the U.S. aviation industry by investing over $100 million in Southwest Airlines, America’s original low-cost carrier, at a time when it was grappling with operational disruptions and financial pressures. He was appointed chairman, with a mandate to help guide a turnaround.
“We are embarking on the next era of change at Southwest as we build upon its many successes and storied past. Our critical priority as a newly constituted Board is to come together to return the carrier to superior financial performance,” Gangwal had said then, outlining his vision for a low-cost airline turnaround strategy.
But less than a year later, on July 1, it was announced that he was stepping down from the chairman role. The airline named Doug Brooks, a Southwest board member for over 15 years, as the new chairman. Gangwal, however, will remain on the board and continue to play a role through the fleet oversight committee, as well as on finance, nominating, and corporate governance committees.
There were no clear reasons cited for this unexpected exit except “time constraints.”
Still, Gangwal’s IndiGo stake sale, combined with his brief but high-profile role at Southwest Airlines, has ensured that he remains one of the most watched figures in the global airline industry, straddling both India’s aviation boom and America’s low-cost airline restructuring.
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