Winning and losing in Monte Carlo

ERNST & YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR 2008

Monte Carlo has sublime weather, the placid Mediterranean is a quite incredible blue, and the luxury yachts leave a long white trail of foam in the water. It was like being taken to another world, being driven from Nice airport along a coastline with stunning views, with my chauffeur (a Sri Lankan Tamil) pointing out the houses of the rich and famous…the deposed king of Egypt, a Russian oligarch… The stands were already being put up at critical streetside spots for the Formula 1 race the following week-end. Walking around in the shopping area near Casino Royale (of James Bond fame), one bumped into Kumar Birla on holiday, unshaven and casually dressed, and clearly in a relaxed mood.

The judges for the year’s Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award, about a dozen of us from nearly as many countries, had to pick one winner from more than 30 country-winners — among them, Sunil Bharti Mittal from India. We had been given large tomes, with the track records of all the country-winners — for overnight reading. There was a brief reception where winners and judges could meet and get to know each other a little bit, and then it was down to business.

A B-school professor from the US had worked out the selection process, and we were divided into small groups of 2-3 judges each; the country-winners had to meet the different groups of judges for 10-15 minutes each. It took hours, but the serious contenders for the big prize emerged quickly. Then, all the judges met together to pick the global winner. What had been apparent to me was obvious to the whole group: there were two clear front-runners, and a third strong candidate. One is not supposed to talk of what went on in the closed room, but after three years I suppose it is ok to say that Sunil Mittal was one of the three.

But it was not to be him. First, there was the backdrop: Narayana Murthy of Infosys had been the global winner two years earlier, and I thought it unlikely that an Indian would be picked again so soon. Also, no American had won the global award till then (which was a surprise), and the second favourite was a US businessman with a strong record in multiple businesses as well as in philanthropy. Eventually, the American ended up as the runaway winner.

Sunil had come along with his daughter and his long-time associate, Akhil Gupta. We went out for a meal, and Sunil gave up scanning my face for clues as to whether he had won. “I can read most faces, but I just can’t read yours,” he said. He knew he had lost only when the winner’s name was announced at the formal award ceremony, at the end of a long evening of drinks, dinner and entertainment, in a marvellous setting on a spectacular Mediterranean evening. Ernst &Young outdid itself with classy organisation.

Sunil took the disappointment well. Instead of heading back to our hotel rooms, we decided to try our luck in the casino — an ornate building with an outsize main gaming hall. As a consolation prize for Sunil, his daughter had a long lucky streak at the croupier’s table, so the night ended on a high note of harmless fun.