Mumbai: In 1985, a 25-year-old entered the stock market, while still in college, with a tiny investment of Rs 5,000.
By 2022, his net worth had soared to $5.8 billion, according to Forbes, and the bold, risk-taking, and adventurous journey from Rs 5,000 to a billionaire earned him many monikers — such as the ‘Big Bull’ of India’s stock market or even India’s Warren Buffett.
This was, in a nutshell, the life of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, a bellwether for investors, who sat on the boards of various companies, produced Bollywood films, and even started an airline.
Jhunjhunwala died Sunday due to a cardiac arrest. He was 62.
“He was brought dead around 6.45 am. The cause of death was a cardiac arrest. He was ailing for quite some time and was discharged from our hospital just three weeks ago,” sources from the Breach Candy hospital told ThePrint.
A source from the Mumbai Police said Jhunjhunwala was on dialysis for the past few months.
Jhunjhunwala is said to have loved his drink, and those who knew him and interacted with him over work say he was a regular at a South Mumbai bar called Geoffreys. He was a smoker, evident from the faint smell of cigarettes in his meeting rooms, sources say.
“He was a proprietary investor and his stakes were very high,” Sunil Shah, a market expert at Khambatta Securities, a broking firm on Dalal Street, told ThePrint.
“He had a huge following that he built over the years. The man had no background yet he achieved his laurels. It sends message to every youth that background doesn’t matter,” Shah said. “If you have the mettle then you follow your dream you’ll achieve success. It’s democratisation of wealth. There are no privileges,” he said.
Also Read: ‘Scapegoat’ or mastermind of 1992 scam? Harshad Mehta’s fall from grace still haunts family
The Big Bull
Jhunjhunwala developed an interest in stock market investments when he was still a teenager. His father, a government official, would often discuss how stocks would react to the day’s news.
When Jhunjhunwala wanted to start investing, his father encouraged him, but insisted that he do it with his own money. Jhunjhunwala is known to have borrowed from his brother’s clients promising them returns higher than bank fixed deposits.
His first investment was in Tata Tea in the mid-80s, in which Jhunjhunwala bought 5,000 shares at Rs 43 a piece.
Within three months, the investment had more than trebled to Rs 143 a share.
“In 1985, I was a Chartered Accountant from a baniya family. I said I wanted to invest in the stock market and my mother said who will marry you. I told her you will have one less daughter-in-law to trouble you,” Jhunjhunwala had said in ThePrint Off The Cuff in 2021.
“I defied everybody and came to the stock markets and today I am the bull of the market and the bull of India,” he added.
The billionaire investor ran a privately-owned stock trading firm, RARE Enterprises, which got its name from the first two initials of his name and his wife Rekha’s.
Some of Jhunjhunwala’s major investments include Sesa Goa, Tata Motors, Star Health and Allied Insurance Company, Metro Brands, Aurobindo Pharma, Praj Industries, Crisil, and NCC, among others.
“Most of his decisions turned out to be right and so he created his brand over the years because he ultimately created wealth,” Shah from Khambatta Securities said
His most trailblazing investment was the one in Titan Company — the top holding in his portfolio. At the end of the June quarter, Jhunjhunwala had a 5.10 per cent stake in the company with a shareholding of Rs 11,086.9 crore.
Jhunjhunwala had invested in the company in 2002-03, when it was a poorly performing stock.
“He was spontaneous. He used to take very quick decisions. He knew exactly when to exit an investment and knew the value of his assets,” an investment banker who has worked with Jhunjhunwala on private investments told ThePrint requesting anonymity.
The banker described Jhunjhunwala as an “intuitive investor with a strong belief system.”
This attribute also led to a few mistakes, if one looks purely at financial returns.
“There was one company that was very promising, but he didn’t like the promoter and so he decided that he didn’t want to get into it despite our advice. That company is doing very well now,” he added.
But, at times, the ‘Big Bull’ choose to be bearish.
“I made some of my largest wealth by being a bear. In 1991-92, during the Harshad Mehta scam, I made my biggest wealth. I made a lot of money during Ketan Parekh’s time. Ninety-five per cent of the wealth in equity markets is made through being a bull,” Jhunjhunwala said at Off The Cuff.
“But, there are a few occasions when it’s very profitable to be a bear. And I’ve been one,” he added.
Bullish on India
Whether through the economic downturn of the late 2000s or demonetisation or the Covid-19 pandemic, Jhunjhunwala was always a vocal advocate of India’s growth story.
Demonetisation wasn’t a bad idea, Jhunjhunwala told ThePrint last year on Off the Cuff. But it was an effort that didn’t succeed.
He remained bullish even during Covid — in June 2020, he said that the economic impact was “blown out of proportion”, and that it was unlikely to be as bad as people expected. In June 2021, in the middle of India’s devastating second wave of Covid-19, he said that he didn’t think there was going to be a third wave of the pandemic and that the economy was “better prepared”.
After a short meeting in 2021, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has described Jhunjhunwala as “lively,” “insightful” and “bullish on India.”
On his death, the PM tweeted his condolences saying Jhunjhunwala was “indomitable.”
“Full of life, witty and insightful, he leaves behind an indelible contribution to the financial world. He was also very passionate about India’s progress. His passing away is saddening,” the PM said.
The Confederation of All India Traders in a statement said Jhunjhunwala was an “epitome of patriotism.”
“Rakesh Jhunjhunwala was an ardent supporter of the small businesses of India and a true Bharatiya entrepreneur who built his empire on his own and remained strongly standing as a patron of domestic trade and commerce,” said Praveen Khandelwal, secretary general of the industries body.
Jhunjhunwala was larger than life. He owned a 13-story palatial home in Mumbai’s tony Malabar Hill and dabbled in Bollywood, producing films such as English Vinglish, Shamitabh, and Ki and Ka.
He even teamed up with ex-Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dube and former IndiGo head Aditya Ghosh to set up Akasa Airline, which he launched last week.
Jhunjhunwala, however, never liked being called India’s Warren Buffett. He didn’t want to be anybody’s “clone,” the billionaire had said at Off The Cuff.
“I just want to be Rakesh Jhunjhunwala,” he said.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
Also Read: Indian stocks will continue to soar. Only 2 Ps can cause a dent, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala says