Billionaire stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, often referred to as India's Warren Buffett, died Sunday morning. He was 62. Jhunjhunwala passed away early this morning due to a cardiac arrest, a source in his newly set up airline told news agency Press Trust of India.
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 $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 last week with its maiden flight from Mumbai to Ahmedabad.
Jhunjhunwala had in previous interviews stated that he became fascinated with stocks as a child after watching his father balance his market investments. He made his first investment in the stock market in 1985 when he was 25 years old with money borrowed from a relative.
Jhunjhunwala had investments in more than three dozen companies, the most valuable being watch and jewellery maker Titan, part of the Tata conglomerate. His portfolio includes 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).
He earned his first big profit in 1986 when he bought 5,000 shares of Tata Tea at Rs 43 and the stock rose to Rs 143 within three months. In three years, he earned Rs 20-25 lakh.
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.
(With PTI inputs)
