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STREET
SMART URGE
TO SPLURGE A
CHECK ON PAY BILLIONAIRE
CLUB HIGHEST
PAY PACKETS METHODOLOGY
AND INDEX |
Shakers but not market movers While the stock market has played a major role in creating billionaires this year, a few didn’t have to tap it to get the numbers. Joydeep Ghosh raises a toast to the unlisted ones Rumour has it that the associations of beedi makers in Andhra Pradesh, vegetable oil makers in Gujarat and toddy tappers in Kerala are flush with so much cash that they are capable of lending to their respective governments. Some say, they actually do so. While there is no way one can put any number to their revenues, the figures talked about range from over Rs 5,000 to Rs 25,000 crore a year.
That leads us to among many others a bare foot painter, an elusive investment banker, and a soft spoken cricketer. M F Hussain, Vallabh Bhansali and Sachin Tendulkar have nothing in common. But what brings them together in this list is the fact that they are all billionaires. And while UB group Chairman Vijay Mallya can flaunt his yacht, even Tendulkar drives a Ferrari.
Then there are the Hiranandani brothers Niranjan and Surender, who are aggressively expanding in Chennai after launching a large number of projects in Mumbai and Thane. Both the groups have picked up over $300 million (over Rs 1,200 crore) through the alternative investment market (AIM) in the UK and that too, for only a few projects.
In financial services, Motilal Oswal’s IPO has made both partners Raamdeo Agarwal and Motilal Oswal billionaires, with a net worth of Rs 800 crore each at the time of listing, and the number is increasing every day. Others who can join this list include the likes of Vallabh Bhansali and Nimesh Shah of Enam, with the latter being valued at over Rs 179 crore just based on his holding of over one per cent in various companies. Then, there is investor Shivanand Mankekar and family who are almost at Rs 350 crore. But the cake goes to the king of bulls, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala whose net worth is almost Rs 2,500 crore. Business Standard • December 2007 |
Since
most of them cannot be named as there is nothing official about
it, we take the safer route by looking at different professions
and sectors and then, identify the leaders who haven't yet listed
in the stock markets.
In
a year when many billionaires were created because they unlocked
their companies’ wealth by going for initial public offerings
(IPOs), a few of them are still yet to play the listing game. Take
for instance, DLF's K P Singh who, post-IPO, is among the richest
Indians. But if one looks at people in the same industry, we have
the K Raheja group, a huge brand name, but still unlisted.