Vijay Mallya

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Vijay Mallya
Vijaymallya.jpg
Member of the Rajya Sabha
2002–2008, 2010 – present
Personal details
Born (1955-12-18) 18 December 1955 (age 68)
Bantwal, Karnataka, India
Political party Independent
Occupation Businessman, Chairman of:
  • The UB Group, one of India's largest conglomerates with diverse interests in brewing, distilling, aviation, real estate, engineering, fertilizers, biotechnology and information technology,
  • Sanofi India (previously Hoechst and Aventis)
  • Bayer CropScience in India
Signature Vijay Mallya's signature

Vijay Mallya (born 18 December 1955)[1][2][3] is an Indian businessman and politician. The son of another businessman Vittal Mallya, he is the chairman of the UB Group, an Indian conglomerate with interests in beverage alcohol, aviation infrastructure, real estate and fertilizer among others. Mallya is also a member of the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Parliament of India.

He also co-owns the Formula One team Sahara Force India. His companies own Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore, the I-League teams Mohun Bagan A.C. and East Bengal F.C.[citation needed] He is also a member of the World Motor Sport Council representing India in the FIA.[4]

Mallya is the Chairman of public companies both in India and the US. He has been the Chairman of Sanofi India (previously Hoechst AG and Aventis) as well as the Chairman of Bayer CropScience in India for over 20 years, in addition to being the Chairman of several other companies.[5]

Personal life

Vijay Mallya is the son of Vittal Mallya, a prominent businessman from Bantwal, Mangalore, he hails from a konkani-speaking family. His wife Lalitha Ramaiah.[1][3][6] He was educated at La Martiniere Calcutta, where he was appointed House Captain of Hastings house in his final year, and at St. Xavier's College, Calcutta,[1][7] where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree (with honours) in 1970 .[1] While in college, Mallya interned in his family businesses. After graduating, he interned at the American part of Hoechst AG in the United States.[citation needed]

In 1986, he met and married an air hostess for Air India named Sameera Tyabjee (sometimes spelled 'Samira'). Their son, Sidhartha Mallya, was born on 7 May 1987.[2][8] They were divorced shortly afterwards, and Mallya has stated in interviews that he has a "great relationship" with his first wife.[9] In June 1993, Mallya married Rekha,[10] a double divorcee[11] whom he had known since childhood, as they had grown up as neighbors. Rekha was first married to Pratap Chettiappa, a coffee planter based in Kodagu, and had one daughter by him.[11] She divorced him to marry Shahid Mahmood, a businessman, and had two children by him - a son named Kabir and a daughter named Laila.[11] This marriage also ended in divorce, and Mallya became Rekha's next husband in June 1993. Mallya and Rekha have two daughters together, named Leanna and Tanya.[1] Mallya regards all of Rekha's children from both of her previous marriages as part of his family.[11] His family was reported to be distraught when Rekha's eldest child, Stella Chirayath, died in a car crash in London in 2003.[2][3]

Business

Mallya became the Chairman of United Breweries Group in 1983 at the age of 28, following his father's death.[5] Since then, the group has grown into a multi-national conglomerate of over 60 companies, with an annual turnover which increased by 64% over 15 years to US$11 billion in 1998–1999. He consolidated the various companies under an umbrella group called the "UB Group", spun off non-core and loss-making businesses and focused on the core business of beverage alcohol.[citation needed] Over the years, he has diversified and acquired Berger Paints, Best and Crompton in 1988; Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilizers in 1990; The Asian Age newspaper and the publisher of film magazine, Cine Blitz, a Bollywood magazine in 2001.[12]

United's Kingfisher beer has more than a 50 per cent market share in India's beer market.[5] The beer is available in 52 countries outside India and leads among Indian beers in the international market.[5]

United Spirits Ltd., the flagship of the UB Group, achieved the historic milestone of selling 100 million cases, becoming the second-largest spirits company in the world by volume under Vijay Mallya's chairmanship.[5] In 2012, Mallya ceded management control of United Spirits Limited to global spirits giant Diageo, although he retained a minority stake in the business.[13]

Kingfisher Airlines, established in 2005, was a major business venture launched by Mallya.[14] It eventually became insolvent and had to be closed down.[15][16] As of October 2013, it had not paid salaries to its employees for 15 months, had lost its license to operate as an airline, and owed more than $1 billion in bank loans.[13]

Political career

File:Vijay Mallya 300.jpg
Mallya in 2010

Mallya is in his second term as an Independent MP from his home State of Karnataka. Among the positions he has held as MP include:[1]

  • Unknown month, 2002 – Feb. 2004 and Oct. 2004 – April 2008, Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence
  • Sept. 2002 – Feb. 2003, Member, Committee on Science and Technology, Environment and Forests
  • Feb. 2003 – Feb. 2004, Member, Committee on Defence
  • Aug. 2004 – April 2008, Member, Committee on Industry
  • Sept. 2004 – April 2008, Convenor, Sub-Committee-III of the Committee on Industry for the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises
  • Unknown time span, Member, Sub-Committee-IV of the Committee on Industry for Action Taken Report
  • Aug. 2007 – April 2008, Member, Sub-Committee-II for Small Scale Industries of the Committee on Industry
  • Aug. 2010 onwards, Member, Committee on Industry
  • Aug. 2010 onwards, Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Civil Aviation
  • Aug. 2012 onwards, Member, Committee on Chemicals and Fertilizers.

Auction purchases

Vijay Mallya is noted for his successful bidding in auction of items that are considered of great historical value to India. In 2004, he placed the winning bid of £175,000 for the sword of Tipu Sultan at an auction in London, and brought it back to India.[1] Subsequently, he bought 30 other items owned by Tipu Sultan from auction houses in the UK, including a cannon, other weapons, and personal items.[1] In March 2009, Mallya successfully bid for belongings of Mahatma Gandhi[1] for US$1.8 million, in a New York auction that initially caused an uproar in India and its government tried and failed to prevent it from going under the hammer.

Awards

Mallya has received several professional awards both in India and overseas:

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Vijay Mallya Rajya Sabha MP. Mallyainparliament.in (18 December 1955). Retrieved on 4 June 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Unseen Pictures of Vijay Mallya and Wives", Daily Bhaskar (accessed May 2014).
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 "Vijay Mallya",[dead link] India.gov.in: National Portal of India (accessed May 2014)
  4. ↑ World Motor Sport Council
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 5.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (section 4.1)
  6. ↑ Bhandari, B., "Vijay Mallya: Mr High Spirits", Rediff: India Abroad, 8 April 2005.
  7. ↑ Mathew, Fr. P.C., S.J., "Aims and Objectives", St. Xavier's College, Kolkata (accessed May 2014).
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ DNAindia. Friday, 21 April 2006 My life is an open book: Vijay Mallya
  10. ↑ Parliamentary Profile
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 Times of India. Aug 28, 2010, I do, I do, I do...
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 "India's Richest #84 Vijay Mallya", Forbes (accessed May 2014).
  14. ↑ "Is Vijay Mallya India's worst businessman?", FirstBiz (First Post Business), 27 September 2012.
  15. ↑ "Non-bailable arrest warrant issued against Vijay Mallya", The Hindu, 12 October 2012.
  16. ↑ "Cheques bounce case: Warrant against Kingfisher, Vijay Mallya on GMR's complaint", CNN-IBN, 12 October 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found. (p. 13)
  18. ↑ The Asian Awards Winners List. 3 November 2010. PRNewswire. PR Newswire Europe Limited (a United Business Media company). Retrieved 2014-06-03.

External links

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