Ronnie Screwvala was born on 8 September 1956 in Bombay. He acted in professional plays as a schoolboy, including Othello and Death of a Salesman. He went to Cathedral and John Connon School and Sydenham College.
His first business made toothbrushes. In 1981 he moved into cable television, when Doordarshan was India's only channel. That led to UTV, which listed in 2005. Disney acquired it in 2012 in a deal reported at an enterprise value of $1.4 billion.
In 2015 he started upGrad with Mayank Kumar, Phalgun Kompalli and Ravijot Chugh. It became a unicorn after a $185 million raise in 2021. In June 2022 it raised $225 million at a $2.25 billion valuation, and Screwvala put in $36 million of his own money.
Chugh left in 2020 and Kumar exited in 2024. In FY26 upGrad reported gross revenue of Rs 2,070 crore and a net loss of Rs 130 crore, down 52 percent. In March 2026 it signed a term sheet to acquire Unacademy.