Abstract
Purpose & methodology - This study is to answer the following three questions, analyzing data on Top 50 Indian Billionaires, Top 50 Indian companies and Top 50 Indian start-ups. The first is whether or not traiditonal merchant caste like Vaisya's ability of creating wealth declined as some studies argue. The second is whether non-merchant caste like Brahmin, Kshatriya, OBC, Dalit, emerged as an India's new business elite. The third is whether the results of top 50 Indian companies and top 50 start-ups' analyses have similarities with that of top 50 Indian Billionaires analysis. Findings - The result is firstly, the ability of creating wealth of businessmen from the merchant caste was still overwhelming. Secondly, the big businessmen' rising from non-merchant castes as a new business elite was extremely rare. Thirdly, according to the analysis of top 50 Indian start-ups, the percentage of Vaisya has significantly declined while the the percentage of upper castes like Brahmin has noticeably increased. Fourthly, no evidence was found that businessmen from the lower castes like OBC or Dalit were increasing the expanding business influence. Research implications - The Studies mean that in big-sized Indian companies, the power of traditional merchant caste remains the same as before and is even reinforcing, while in small start-ups, Vaisya's power is considerably decreasing, and the upper castes like Brahmin who are highly educated are noticeably increasing.