At 16, he made world history: Meet the teenager who became the youngest male CA

Teenage record

At 16, most teenagers are still thinking about college subjects and entrance exams. Lakshmanan Meyyappan had already crossed a professional milestone, becoming the world's youngest male Chartered Accountant at 16 years and 141 days, according to Guinness World Records.

Lockdown turn

The COVID-19 lockdown changed the direction of Meyyappan's teenage years. After completing his Class 10 board exams, he began learning accounting concepts at home, with his mother—herself an ACCA—helping introduce him to a field that would soon become much more than a lockdown interest.

One-year sprint

What followed was an unusually compressed academic journey. Meyyappan began studying for the ACCA qualification at just 15 and completed it in roughly a year, reaching a professional benchmark while many students his age were still navigating senior secondary school.

Finance climb

The Guinness record did not become the finish line. Meyyappan went on to earn the CFA charter and is now pursuing an MSc in Finance, adding further credentials to a résumé that began taking shape years before most young professionals enter their first finance classroom.

Dubai desk

The teenager who discovered accounting during lockdown eventually turned that interest into a career in financial markets. Meyyappan now works as a Senior Research Analyst at Century Financial in Dubai, dealing with investment research, analysis and market-related decision-making.