Indian Stock Market Legend Rakesh Jhunjhunwala dies at 62.
Known as Warren Buffet of the Indian Stock Market, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was an Indian stock trader who made his fortunes worth through the stock market. As every Indian synonym his name with the Indian stock market, Jhunjhunwala’s mindset towards the stock market was phenomenal.
Rakesh’s Net Worth included multiple business ventures apart from the stocks, which concluded airlines, the media industry and Pharmaceuticals.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s early life
Born on 5th July 1962, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala shares his ethnic roots with a Rajasthani Marwari Family. According to his title ‘Jhunjhunwala‘, his ancestors belonged to Jhujhunu in Rajasthan.
In Bombay, his nourishment was under his father, an Income Tax commissioner. He completed his academic graduation from Sydenham College. After that, he enrolled in the Chartered Accountant Course under the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
During his academics, Jhunjhunwala developed a unique corner toward the stock market. Further, fueling was through his father’s conversation about the market, which led the corner to be stronger.
As Rakesh proceeded further on the path, his guidance was from his father. Though his father refused financial support from him or any of Rakesh’s friends, Rakesh still never lost hope.
He further defined his father’s policy, where he recommended to young Rakesh that ‘investment should be from market profits rather than any other external source’. Rakesh somehow managed to invest his first 5000 shares in 1985. Within a year, he made a hefty profit of 5 lakhs from those Tata Tea shares until 1986.
Later defining his first money source in an article, Jhunjhunwala stated the cost procurement was from his brother’s client, which he had received for his promise of higher returns than fixed deposits. Investment of the money received was later in the Tata Tea stocks, which rose around 43-143 Rs in 3 months, giving him huge profits.
These lakhs weren’t a typical profit for Rakesh but a golden boot for him to enter the stock markets. As he tied up the golden laces, Jhunjhunwala’s profit skyrocketed amounts of 20-25 Lakhs profit within three years until 1989.
Seeking in his personal life, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is married to Rekha Jhunjhunwal, a stock investor. The couple has a twin and a daughter as the business successors.
How did Rakesh Jhunjhunwala become ‘The Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’
With the first kick, Rakesh was a Risk taker in Dallal street, whom everyone wanted to invest. Still, he was making profits in lakhs, sometimes crores, but not that big.
One of Rakesh’s investments of Rs3 shares in the Titan company made him the real bull of the share market.
Looking at his portfolio, he is the highest shareholder of Titan to date, and those penny shares cost him around 11000 crores. He thanks Tata for his success and is an investor in most of its subsidiaries.
To date, counting profits on Titan shares, Jhunjhunwala’s successful investment includes multi-bagger stocks like Sesa Goa, CRISIL, Praj Industries, Aurobindo Pharma and NCC. Combining the above stock investments, Jhunjhunwala has made over 20,000 crores.
Jhunjhunwala has also tasted some misses in the stock market, where he has lost plenty of his funds. DHF or Dewan Housing Finance was one of his investments where he had invested over 34 crores, but unfortunately, the company triggered an economic crisis, resulting in liquidation. Apart from that, Rakesh’s other misses include Mandhana Retail, DB Reality and Private Equity.
Jhunjhunwala was also investigated for Insider trading by SEBI in July 2021, paying a total fine of ₹ 35 crores from him and his associates.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala believes mistakes as the key to success. He states that to ace the markets, one should learn from past errors and try to blame themselves rather than blaming any external factors.
He defines the promoters are just themselves and never blames them. Rakesh quotes further that the promoter will be a promoter, not what I expect.
Jhunjhunwala also rectifies that there are no shortcuts to success, and one should grasp knowledge from everywhere to become a successful investor.
Currently, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is the 36th Richest man in India and 438th in the world, with a net worth of $5.8 billion, as cited in the Forbes listing.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Mindset towards Startups and Cryptos
In reply to new trendy startups, Jhunjhunwala commented on them being running on valuation rather than positive cash flows. He further added that even with a portfolio of over 32,000 crores, he wants to stay away from all multi-million startup IPO like Zomato, Policybazaar and Paytm.
In a conversation with CNBC-TV18, Rakesh stated that businesses require sustainability and further scalability.
Coming to Cryptocurrencies, he expressed them as a high cash-burning business model. With volatility, crypto is away from his portfolio, even if offered for a single penny.
He opposes crypto can never be a currency leading to closure one day. Describing it, he said, ‘as its procurement can be by anyone rather than a regulatory body, it would highly fluctuate and volatile.
Rakesh Jhunjhuwala’s other business ventures
Apart from stocks, here are a few other prominent business ventures in which Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was active.
- Akasa Air
Popularly known as Akasa airlines, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala founded Akasa Air. Commenced in December 2021, it mainly aims
toward budget-friendly low-cost air travelling experiences.
With its first flight being the Boeing 737 Max aircraft, the company launched its first flight service between Mumbai to Ahmedabad. The organisation’s further goal is to get 12-14 flights by this year’s end and 72 aircraft within the next five years.
Key members include Vinay Dube as the MD, founder and CEO, Aditya Ghosh as the Co-founder and Jhunjhunwala owns a 40% stake in the airlines.
- Hungama Digital Media Entertainment
Also known for its Bollywood movies, web series, Music and Animation, Hungama Digital Media is an online digital entertainment company headquartered in Mumbai.
The company founders were Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, Neeraj Roy, Hiren Ved, Lashit Sanghvi and Ashish Kacholia. Founded 23 years ago in 1999, the company’s current chairman is Rajeev Chandrasekhar.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s Philanthropy
Being a bull, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala has a humongous philanthropic portfolio, including nutrition and education charities. He contributes to several foundations, which aim to shelter cancer-affected children and increase awareness among children about sexual exploitation.
Rakesh is also a trustee of several education institutes like Ashoka University, Friend of Tribal Society and Olympic Gold quest. In the healthcare charity sector, he has an eye hospital in Navi Mumbai, which has performed around 15,000 eye surgeries free.
Final Words Crediting the Great Bull
Due to kidney-related problems and other acute multiple organ failures, the Great Bull of Dallal Street took his last breath on 14th August. Many famous personalities shared their condolences stating his witty full-of-life Attitude.
Passionate about India’s progress, Jhunjhunwala left an incredible contribution to our financial world without any credit. We all miss him, particularly the Great Bull of Dallal Street, who defined the Stock Market and business mentality for every Indian Household.
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