Chaudhary was born in Nepal to a Marwari family. His father and grandfather had been businessmen and are inspirations to him.
In 2013, Binod Kumar Chaudhary was recognized as Nepal’s first billionaire and wealthiest Nepali by Forbes. This self made man initially planned on traveling to India to pursue further studies but instead began taking over his family’s business at the age of 18. His father had been diagnosed with a heart disease rendering him, as the eldest son, to step up. Today, he is altogether a businessman, philanthropist, politician, writer and filmmaker. His company Cinnovation is also the first and only to be operating at such global heights. He is the chairman and president of the Chaudhary Group, which is also the producer of Nepal’s hit noodle brand, Wai Wai. He owns about 80 companies running in about 20 different countries spanning across several different vertical industries. He owns a controlling stake in the Nabil Bank, a commercial bank in Nepal. His career in politics has beginnings going back to 1979 when he supported a political campaign. In 2008, he became a member of the Constituent Assembly. He had represented the Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist in parliament. In 2017, he joined the Nepali Congress Party.
In 1995 he began the Chaudhary Foundation which is committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for Nepal. Chaudhary utilized the Chaudhary Foundation exceptionally in organizing, providing and executing relief efforts after the massive 7.8 Richter scale earthquake that occurred in 2015 and continued to help rebuild Nepal.
He published his autobiography in 2013 which was then translated in English in 2015 and published as well titled, Making It Big.
Though there have been controversies surrounding many of his business decisions, there have also been a lot of praise. He’s received many awards and honors including Asian Man of the Year award in 2016. He received an honorary doctorate degree from Sri Sri University for his mass philanthropic contributions towards rebuilding Nepal after the 2015 earthquake. Frost & Sullivan Growth awarded him with the Innovation and Leadership (GIL) Award in 2016. He also received the Lifetime Achievement Award by Hotelivate in 2019.
Some more background info:
- He opened his first business at 19 which was a discotheque.
- He went against many Marwari norms such as pursuing a love marriage.
- He is a strict vegetarian and has never tasted his own chicken flavored Wai Wai product.