By Anirbaan Hritiq
August 16
The country experienced a sudden sense of landslide when they heard about the passing away of India’s very own version of Warren Buffet, Late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala at Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra.
The stock broker turned the business magnet and passed away due to cardiac arrest accompanied by a multiple organ failure. Jhunjhunwala’s quest to conquer the sky with Akasa Air had just taken its maiden flight just a week back amidst which the country’s stock market investors received such heart-wrenching news.
But who was Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, and what made him different from other business magnates, let’s discover his story in brief!
A qualified Charter Accounted turned stock market giant Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had a very humble starting at India’s Sensex which stood at just 150 points back in the day. Belonging to the Jhunjhunu region of Rajasthan, India which is reflected in his surname Jhunjhunwala.
He was born to Radheshyamji Jhunjunwala and Urmila Jhunjhunwala. Radheshyamji Jhunjunwala was an Income Tax Commissioner. Being the elder amongst the two siblings Rakesh was always in the footsteps of his father learning more about finance and its management. He always over-heard and participated in the discussion related to finance which his father used to have with his colleagues.
After graduating from Sydenham College, he thereafter enrolled at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and briefly practiced as a Chartered Accountant. Rakesh was often found saying in his interviews that, though his father guided him initially to understand the market trends but never lend him money to start his investments as well was forbidden to acquire funds from his friends for the same.
Perhaps, we can interpret that, this very step of his father shaped his career as a raging bull in the Indian Market who never looked back and went on conquering. Rakesh started investing in stocks in the early days of his college, starting with a humble amount of ₹5000, now his investment portfolio has grown into a whopping ₹30,000 crore.
As the name of his investment firm goes that is Rare Enterprises, Jhunjhunwala’s achievements were also extremely Rare. The stock market is an extremely volatile platform that has made and broken many bulls and has seen many power figures such as Harshad S. Mehta and Ketan Parekh who had literally ruled the game during their time period and always had one consistent master who was non-other than Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.
Jhunjhunwala’s realistic policies and consistent approach to the game of stocks made him the ultimate king whose empire was unaffected by any storms of economic policies, scams, and changes in the political scenarios.
Besides being an active investor Jhunjhunwala was the chairman of Aptech Limited and Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. and sat on the board of directors of Prime Focus Limited, Geojit Financial Services, Bilcare Limited, Praj Industries Limited, Provogue India Limited, Concord Biotech Limited, Innovassynth Technologies Limited, Mid-Day Multimedia Limited, Nagarjuna Construction Company Limited, Viceroy Hotels Limited, and Tops Security Limited.
Apart from the above-mentioned companies, Jhunjhunwala also kick-started his own airline company named Akasa Air along with former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dubey. The airline currently has 2 aircraft with an additional order for 70 more aircraft and flies to 3 cities as of 9th Aug 2022.
As mentioned earlier, his dream of conquering the Indian skies was partially completed when he left everyone for his heavenly journey. But his legacy will always remain untouched and will always have a special place amongst the Indians in general and stock market enthusiasts in particular.
A man who made news for wearing a messy white shirt and sitting during a meeting with India’s most dynamic prime minister of the current era Shri Narendra Modi, how can we all forget his legacy? Bidding adieu to the real bull of the Dalal Street, Late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala through this Report Odisha exclusive article. Om Shanti.
