What Is Bikram Choudhury's Net Worth?
Bikram Choudhury is an Indian-born American yoga instructor with a net worth of $75 million. Choudhury is the founder of Bikram Yoga, a form of hot yoga involving a sequence of 26 hatha yoga postures performed in a heated environment.
In recent years, Bikram has faced multiple lawsuits related to discrimination and sexual assault. After leaving the United States in 2016, he began opening yoga studios in India.
Choudhury has authored books such as "Bikram's Beginning Yoga Class" (1977) and "Bikram Yoga: The Guru Behind Hot Yoga Shows the Way to Radiant Health and Personal Fulfillment" (2007). He appeared in the 2007 documentary "Yoga, Inc." and was the subject of the 2019 Netflix documentary "Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator."
Earnings
At the peak of his career, Bikram earned $7-10 million per year in royalties from yoga studios worldwide that used his name and format.
Early Life
Bikram Choudhury was born in 1944 in Calcutta, British India. He claims to have studied under Bishnu Charan Ghosh, an Indian Hathayogi and bodybuilder. Although he stated that he won the National India Yoga Championship three times as a teenager, India's first yoga competition took place in 1974. Evidence from Jerome Armstrong's book "Calcutta Yoga" and the "30for30" podcast series suggests that Bikram did not study with Ghosh until he was 18. Initially focused on massage and bodybuilding, Bikram claimed that a weightlifting accident left him unable to walk at age 20, but he recovered within six months with Ghosh's help. During the 1970s, he developed Bikram Yoga based on sequences created by Ghosh, selecting 26 postures from 84 to form the practice.
Career
Bikram emigrated to the U.S. in 1971 and began teaching yoga. His first studio opened in Los Angeles in 1974, and by 2006, there were over 1,600 Bikram Yoga studios in 40 countries. Journalist Brigid Delaney described her early 2000s meeting with him: "An entourage sat around him, literally at his feet. The vibe was fawning." In the 1990s, Bikram began offering certification courses, training instructors, and teaching celebrities including Madonna, David Beckham, and Lady Gaga. He also claimed to have taught Bill Clinton, Richard Nixon, and Ronald Reagan. In 2009, Bikram asserted that his yoga practice was copyrighted and filed a lawsuit in 2011 against Yoga to the People. The U.S. Copyright Office ruled that yoga postures couldn't be copyrighted, although Yoga to the People ceased using Bikram's poses.
(Photo by Bob Riha, Jr./Getty Images)
Personal Life
Bikram married Rajashree Chakrabarti in 1984. Together, they established the International Yoga Sports Federation and the United States Yoga Federation. Rajashree was the first National Yoga Champion in India, winning consecutively for four years. She filed for divorce in late 2015, citing irreconcilable differences following multiple assault allegations against Choudhury. The divorce was finalized in 2016, giving Bikram the couple's Hawaii apartment and Rajashree their L.A. homes and some of his cars.
Sexual Harassment and Assault Allegations
Bikram has faced multiple lawsuits for rape, sexual harassment, racism, and homophobia. By early 2014, five women had sued him for sexual misconduct. Allegations included that his inner circle enabled his assaults and that he recruited vulnerable overseas volunteers. In 2016, he was ordered to pay more than $6 million to Minakshi Jafa-Bodden for sexual harassment and wrongful termination. Choudhury fled the U.S. before paying, resulting in a 2017 arrest warrant. He later filed for bankruptcy protection in November 2017. Following the 2019 release of "Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator," many studios ceased using the term "Bikram Yoga." In December 2019, 22 of Bikram's luxury cars, including Rolls-Royces and Bentleys, were seized to be auctioned, valued between $800,000 and $1.5 million.
