Niraj S. Shah ( hi, नीरज शाह) (born 1973/1974) is an

Indian-American Indian Americans or Indo-Americans are citizens of the United States with ancestry from India. The United States Census Bureau uses the term Asian Indian to avoid confusion with Native Americans, who have also historically been referred to ...

billionaire businessman, and co-founder, co-chairman, and CEO of online retailer

Wayfair Wayfair Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boston, Massachusetts that sells furniture and home goods online. Formerly known as CSN Stores, it was founded in 2002, and currently offers 14 million items from more than 11,000 global su ...

Early life

Shah grew up in

Pittsfield Pittsfield is the largest city and the county seat of Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. It is the principal city of the Pittsfield, Massachusetts Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Berkshire County. Pittsfield� ...

, Massachusetts, the son of immigrants from India. His grandfather ran a "steel manufacturing business in India, making pots and pans". His father worked for

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

as a mechanical engineer, and after his retirement, joined Wayfair early on, providing financial advice, and still works for the company. Shah graduated from

Cornell University Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...

, where he earned a bachelor's degree in engineering in 1995.

Career

Shah co-founded Wayfair in 2002 with his Cornell classmate,

Steve Conine Steven K. Conine (born 1972/73) is an American businessman, and the co-chairman and co-founder (with Niraj Shah) of the online retailer Wayfair. Early life Raised in the New Vernon section of Harding Township, New Jersey, Conine spent some ti ...

, and has been its CEO since its inception. Shah was included in the ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'' list of "40 under 40" for 2013. In 2017, Shah became a director of the

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, commonly known as the Boston Fed, is responsible for the First District of the Federal Reserve, which covers New England: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and all of Connecticut except ...

. In May 2017, Wayfair's share price rose above $70 per share, making Shah and his co-founder

both billionaires. As of April 2022, his estimated net worth was $1.6 billion.

Philanthropy

Shah co-founded the Shah Family Foundation with his wife Jill in 2017, which supports education and healthcare programs.

Personal life

Shah is married to Jill Shah; they have two children, and live in the

Back Bay Back Bay is an officially recognized neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, built on reclaimed land in the Charles River basin. Construction began in 1859, as the demand for luxury housing exceeded the availability in the city at the time, and t ...

area of Boston. In 2013, Jill Shah sold her alternative medicine directory Jill's List, which employed 7 people, to California-based MINDBODY, and now runs their Boston office.

References

External links

Shah Family Foundation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shah, Niraj 1970s births American billionaires American company founders Cornell University alumni Federal Reserve Bank people Living people People from Pittsfield, Massachusetts