Tej Kohli: The Billionaire Who Sees the Future?

Tej Kohli sits across from me, dressed in a dark double-breasted suit. We meet in his private Mayfair office. His desk, lined with framed photos of his children and his wife, Isabelle, offers a glimpse into the personal life of one of the world's leading tech investors. The adjacent glass offices house his team who oversee his significant commercial investments and philanthropic initiatives.

Kohli's fortune stems from his ability to identify transformative technologies before the market. From online payment gateways to AI, SpaceX to CRISPR, and now esports, he has built a billion-dollar empire on instinct.

Born in India in 1958, Kohli showed an early aptitude for maths and science, earning a place at the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) to study electrical engineering. 'IIT was tough,' he recalls. 'We were among the best, but to succeed, we had to beat the best.' Many of his fellow graduates now lead global tech firms.

His mother was one of India's first female diplomats, and after graduating in 1980, Kohli joined her in the US, where she was posted. 'The US was extraordinary,' he says. 'India was constrained by bureaucracy. Entrepreneurialism was virtually impossible. The US was the complete opposite.'

Initially, he pursued a career in real estate but made his fortune in the late 1990s during the dot-com boom. Spotting an opportunity, he moved to Costa Rica, where Intel had established a tech hub. 'I made my fortune in online payment gateways and fraud protection,' he explains. 'In the 1990s, people were sceptical about online payments. Fraud was rampant, and banks were slow to adapt. But I saw the potential for secure online transactions to power e-commerce, so I invested heavily.' His company's technology underpinned many early online transactions, generating enormous wealth.

Kohli speaks about payments with the precision of someone dissecting a system. 'It was about understanding friction. Wherever there's friction, technology emerges to eliminate it.'

But he didn't stop at payments. He recognised AI's potential long before it became a buzzword. 'In the mid-2000s, most thought AI was science fiction. I saw it as the backbone of future industries, from finance to healthcare to customer service. Everything.' His early investments in automation and deep learning positioned him ahead of today's AI revolution.

His foresight extended beyond software. 'SpaceX fascinated me,' he says. 'Musk was tackling inefficiencies—one-time-use rockets made no sense. Reusability was the future.'

His investments in SpaceX and later quantum computing shared a theme: solving inefficiencies. 'Quantum computing will break encryption as we know it. It will redefine industries, just like AI.'

Kohli was also early to spot the opportunities in digital currencies. 'I wasn't interested in Bitcoin as a currency,' he explains, 'but as a decentralised system challenging financial gatekeepers. Blockchain is where the real value lies.'

His bet on CRISPR gene editing underscores his focus on disruptive science. 'The implications are massive: curing genetic diseases, creating resilient crops, and even pushing longevity research. These are fundamental shifts in human progress.'

These days, Kohli is most excited about esports. 'Many laughed at esports a decade ago. We thought it was just kids playing video games,' he says. 'My son Sean introduced me to it. But I saw something different: a global, scalable, and incredibly engaging new form of competition.'

He leans forward. 'Esports has teams, leagues, sponsorships, and passionate fans, just like traditional sports. But what makes it unique is its accessibility. Anyone with an internet connection can play, stream, and compete. There are no barriers like in physical sports.'

Kohli's investments in esports and gaming technology have helped the industry establish itself in key markets. 'Look at the numbers. The League of Legends World Championship gets more viewers than the Super Bowl. And this is just the beginning. The massive investment from forward-looking leaders like Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince, Mohammed bin Salman, is taking esports to the next level. This year's Esports World Cup in Riyadh will be the biggest ever.'

He boldly predicts: 'Within a decade, esports will surpass many of the sports it replicates. FIFAe will have a bigger fan base than professional football. NBA2K will produce a player with a larger following than Michael Jordan could possibly imagine. F1 Sim Racing will overtake Formula 1. Why? Because the next generation of fans is digital-first. They don't care about geography; they care about excitement, engagement, and community.'

Kohli explains that selecting the right technologies to invest in is simple. 'There's no magic involved,' he says. 'The technology has to meet three criteria: does it have the potential to change the world, does it have scale, and is it designed for an industry that hasn't adapted to technology?'

As our interview draws to a close, Kohli touches on his broader outlook for the West: 'Since the industrial revolution, our prosperity has ridden the wave of technological progress and innovation. The future will be no different. The scale of our prosperity will be defined by our willingness to embrace technological change and our willingness to encourage the innovators who deliver it. Addressing those must be our priority.'