The Billionaire Club

The Billionaire Club
A Business Standard Publication

The Billionaire Club - December 2004 / January 2005

The other billionaires Meet the wealthy whose wealth is not always evident Let’s face it – it’s tough to determine how wealthy an Indian businessman is. One measure of wealth is the value of his shareholding in his companies, the yardstick The Billionaire Club uses. But a lot of individuals may not own companies but may have invested in them. They might also own one listed company and several unlisted ones or vast property or, all of these. Examples of such people abound in the media, in the packaging and fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) industries, in sports and the arts. Several media barons own companies that are either not listed or have a couple of listed companies and other unlisted ones. The first family of the newspaper world, the Jains of Bennett, Coleman & Company, publishers of “The Times of India” and other newspapers and magazines, falls in this category. Bennett, Coleman earned a profit of Rs 514.38 crore for the year ended July 2004, according to data furnished by the Mumbai-based Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. Bennett, Coleman is sitting on reserves of over Rs 1,800 crore, according to CMIE. So the family’s net worth would be at least Rs 8,431 crore. Media magnate Aroon Purie, who runs news magazine “India Today” and other magazines and television company TV Today is richer now thanks to the higher market capitalisation of his company – Rs 525 crore. His net worth will be substantially higher, given his interests in his unlisted magazine business. The promoter of the Chennai-based Sun network Kalanithi Maran is believed to be worth an estimated Rs 1,000 crore. The network has nine channels in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu and other languages, and accounts for over 80 per cent of the television advertising market in the south. Vikram Thapar runs the cash rich but unlisted Coal Sales, the Chennai-based Sivasailam and Krishnamoorthy families own the South India-based, 47-company (only two of which are listed) Amalgamations group, with Rs 2,300 crore in revenues and a net worth estimated at Rs 900 crore a few years ago. The Rs 1,300 crore, Mumbai-based closely-held ARJ Allana group with interests in meat exports is believed to have a net worth that’s close to Rs 500 crore. Then there’s the Ramesh Chauhan-led Parle group and the Chennai-based FMCG and packaging group CavinKare, owned by C K Ranganathan. It’s not clear how much both businessmen are worth. Broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is worth at least Rs 750 crore Consider too broker Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, known as a canny investor in companies who often takes a long-term view of their future prospects. The Mumbai-based Jhunjhunwala has stakes in a clutch of companies and banks, including Crisil, Karur Vysya Bank, Titan, Matrix, Lupin, Geometric Software Solutions, Praj Industries, BEML, Nagarjuna Construction, Bharat Electronics, Bilcare and the Industrial Development Bank of India. At today’s market prices, these and other investments that Jhunjhunwala has nurtured would easily be worth Rs 750 crore. Look too at construction baron Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, the single largest investor in Tata Sons with a stake of over 18 per cent, who in his personal capacity sold 1.2 million Tata Consultancy Services shares worth around Rs 100 crore around the time the company was listed. The very private Mistry’s net worth was estimated conservatively at Rs 7,000 crore in 2001 and he owns a 200-horse stud farm in Pune and other property. India’s billionaires are also to be found in sports and the entertainment industry. Cricketer Sachin Tendulkar got a Rs 100 crore fee for product endorsements a couple of years ago and runs a restaurant in Mumbai, the former at least ensuring that his foot is firmly on the crease. Actor Amitabh Bachchan, whose net worth was estimated at Rs 170 crore three years ago, has lent his tall frame and deep voice to endorsing products ranging from paints to batteries and chocolate to chyavanprash. Endorsements alone could have earned him a packet this year. And he’s starring in more films than many younger stars. In the arts, painter M F Husain became a billionaire this year when he was paid Rs 100 crore for a set of paintings that he will churn out over the next few years. With that deal, Hussain officially stepped into The Billionaire Club – barefeet, perhaps. This list is by no means an exhaustive one. Several real estate tycoons like Mumbai’s Hiranandani brothers (estimated net worth: over Rs 1,000 crore) and the Rahejas (estimated net worth: over Rs 500 crore) are obviously billionaires, as could be their major counterparts in the capital. So too could the Roys who control the Sahara group. All these men are unquestionably wealthy and can’t be overlooked.