10 Facts about Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, big bull of Dalal street

India

oi-Deepika S

Mumbai, Aug 14: Ace stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, often referred to as India’s Warren Buffett, died here Sunday morning. He was 62.

Born on July 5, 1960 in a Rajasthani family, Jhunjhunwala grew up in Bombay, where his father worked as a Commissioner of Income Tax. He graduated from Sydenham College and thereafter enrolled at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

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A self-made trader, investor and businessman, he was also known as the ‘Big Bull’ of Dalal Street.

With an estimated net worth of around USD 5.8 billion (about Rs 46,000 crore), Jhunjhunwala was the 36th richest billionaire in India, according to Forbes’ 2021 listing.

Son of an income tax officer, he is survived by his wife and three children.

Starting off his journey in stock markets while still in college with a capital of just Rs 5,000, he recently teamed up with ex-Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and former IndiGo head Aditya Ghosh to launch Akasa Air — India’s newest budget carrier. The airline began commercial operations this month with its maiden flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.

He began investing with Rs 5,000 in 1985 when the Bombay Stock Exchange’s benchmark index Sensex was at 150; it now trades at over 59,000.

He had investments in more than three dozen companies, the most valuable being watch and jewellery maker Titan, part of the Tata conglomerate.

His portfolio included companies like Star Health, Rallis India, Escorts, Canara Bank, Indian Hotels Company, Agro Tech Foods, Nazara Technologies and Tata Motors.

He was also the chairman of Hungama Media and Aptech and sat on the board of directors of firms such as Viceroy Hotels, Concord Biotech, Provogue India and Geojit Financial Services.

His 5.05 per cent holding in Titan alone is worth over Rs 11,000 crore. His largest holding is in Aptech Ltd (23.37 per cent), followed by Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd (17.49 per cent), Metro Brands (14.43 per cent), NCC Ltd (2.62 per cent) and Nazara Technologies Ltd (10.03 per cent).

His privately-owned stock trading firm Rare Enterprises derived its name from the first two letters of his name and that of his wife Rekha, who is also a stock market investor.