From balance sheets to building skylines: Ankur Aggarwal's journey from CA to CEO
With financial hardships came responsibilities. He began earning at eleven, and with that, the resolve to build something of his own one day was born.
Chartered Accountancy entered the picture through a cousin's suggestion. The course, with its intense training and relentless focus on discipline, enabled Ankur to refine his technical proficiency and develop valuable habits, including attention to detail and the ability to assess the value in people, ideas, and timing.
With a ₹70,000 loan from his sister, he started his own CA practice, where he built his clientele by fostering meaningful connections that lasted for years to come. Armed with financial knowledge, frameworks to assess risk, and the ability to think beyond the short term, he began with a brokerage business built on a truly cosmopolitan ethos and a global clientele. As Bricks and Woods (a name given by his wife) soared to new heights, Ankur decided to aim even higher and left behind the role of a broker, setting his sights on becoming a developer — determined to reach new heights.
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One of his first land investments, on Al Marjan Island in Ras Al Khaimah, increased in value sixfold within two years. The decision, like most he makes, was backed by data and instinct.
Today, he heads a real estate company with a growing footprint in the UAE, managing assets worth ₹22 billion under development. But ask him what matters, and the answer is still rooted in the principles he learned early: ethics, consistency, and shared growth.
'You can't run far if you run alone,' he says. 'Your team, your clients, your investors, and your family carry you forward.'
To those at the beginning of their journeys, especially CAs, he suggests anchoring ambition in preparation: 'Make short-term goals with long-term thinking. Your job is to build systems that last longer than you do.'
On National CA Day, his story reflects what this qualification can offer beyond a job title. The training builds discipline, perspective, and the ability to see value where others may not. For Ankur, it became the foundation for something much bigger, and much more valuable.
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