Radha Kishan Damani: Journey of A small stock Broker to the 4th richest man of India
India’s fourth richest man – Mr. Radha Kishan Damani, emerged as a successful investor and shareholder in India in the 1980s. According to Forbes India, Mr. Damani has a present net worth of $15.4 billion.
Mr. Damani was born in Bikaner, Rajasthan, in the Marwari family on January 1, 1954. After finishing his 12th, he joined Mumbai University to do B.Com but dropped out after one year.
He was always interested in making investments and doing his own business because his father also worked on Dalal Street. Following in his father footsteps, he started a small ball-bearing business.
Journey of Stock Market?
At the age of 32, Damani lost his father. After that, Damani joined his brother’s stock marketing firm by leaving his ball-bearing business. This was the first time R.K. invested money in the stock market and became a SEBI registered dealer in 1992.
Initially, R.K. Damani did not understand stock exchange investment and business well. It has also struggled with ups and downs in the stock market.
He followed the value investment strategies of a well-known investor, Mr. Chandrakant Sampat, by investing in value companies and short selling strategies. He made a decent profit day after day. He was significantly influenced by Mr. Sampat and started making long-term investments.
Mr. Damani purchased the shares at lower prices and kept them longer before selling them. By doing so, he gained a good profit from the market.
Radha Kishan was a major shareholder in HDFC Bank before it became public. In 1992, when the Harshad Mahta scam was exposed, he achieved a significant increase in his revenues during short selling strategies during this period.
How Damani enters in Consumer Retail market (D-Mart)
When the stock market withstood various scams and faced the economy’s collapse, Damani seized the opportunity and began investing in Real State.
At the same time, he was also planning to launch the retail business Hyperchain market. For this purpose, he began buying properties in different locations to open D-mart Stores in 2002.
Mr. Damani showed a great interest in the Consumer Retail Business. Due to the value investment, He did very detailed planning for the launch of D-mart stores. Damani launched his first D-mart store (also known as Avenue supermart) in Mumbai in 2002.
In the year 2017, D-mart was listed on the stock market and went public under its parent company named Avenue Supermart. It was the big IPO for Avenue Supermart because they offered their share to the public for Rs. 299 and listed in Rs. 600 after an over-subscription.
Today, D-mart operates in 11 states and one union territory. There is a total of 234 D-mart stores across India. D-mart generated 24,870 cr. Revenue in Dec 2020. D-mart offers a wide range of essential and personal products at the lowest price.
Each D-mart store stocks home utility products available at competitive prices that our customers appreciate.- including food, toiletries, beauty products, garments, kitchenware, bed and bath linen, home appliances, and more.
What Strategies Make D-mart Successful…?
- They purchase land where they want to open stores to reduce product costs.
- Damani always opens second stores with the benefit of first stores.
- He pays the vendors within three days and, he gets a discount on it in return.
- They always open stores in residential areas.
The lifestyle and facts of Damani
Radha Kishan Damani is also known as Mr. White and White because he always wears a white shirt and trousers. Radha Kishan is also known for his simplicity. He is a very polite and humble person. The Big Bull of India, Mr. Rakesh Jhunjunwala, calls Mr. Damani as his mentor. Mr. Damani always keeps away from the media.
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