Big bull's net worth beats market cap of 96% of listed firms

Portfolio value of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala & family exceeds Rs 7,200 cr; daily gains in the past year more than Rs 8 cr

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Addressing a gathering after the global economic slowdown of 2008, investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had jokingly said people asked him if he was still a billionaire; if he was, in dollars or rupees?

Jhunjhunwala had become a billionaire during a bull run that ended in 2008. The crushing fall suffered by markets that year had an impact on everyone; Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio was no exception. By March 2009, the publicly available value of his holdings had plunged to a low of Rs 1,130 crore, less than a third of the Rs 3,461 crore at the end of December 2007. However, the current bull run seems to have more than made up for that damage.

Over the past year, Jhunjhunwala has made average daily gains of Rs 8.4 crore — equivalent to more than a million dollars a day. His net worth during this period has increased at Rs 59 crore a week, or Rs 256 crore a month. His gains look more stunning if the timeframe is further broken down: He made an average Rs 35 lakh —enough money to buy an Audi, Mercedes-Benz or BMW car — every hour.

According to figures at the end of the April-June quarter, the combined net worth of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his family was Rs 7,261 crore, compared with Rs 4,192 crore a year ago. This is higher than market capitalisation of 96 per cent of the 5,463 companies listed on the country’s national exchanges. The figures are based on the family’s holdings in companies where their total stake is more than one per cent (as publicly declared to exchanges).

A request for comment did not elicit any response from Jhunjhunwala.

The National Stock Exchange (NSE) benchmark, Nifty, touched a record high of 7,841 in July, rallying 53 per cent from 52-week low of 5,119 in August last year.

Some stocks in Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio, such as Titan, Lupin, CRISIL, Rallis India, Aurobindo Pharma, Dewan Housing Finance Corporation, Geometric and Federal Bank, hit their respective life-time highs in the past month. The family holds equity shares of over Rs 100 crore in each of these companies, according to latest shareholding data.

Among prominent listed companies whose current market value is less than the Jhunjhunwala family’s total net worth are Indian Hotels ( market capitalisation of Rs 7,041 crore), Muthoot Finance (Rs 7,028 crore), Unitech (Rs 6,837 crore), Suzlon Energy (Rs 6,254 crore) and Dish TV India (Rs 6,171 crore). During the April-June quarter, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala added stocks like Multi Commodity Exchange, Federal Bank, Edelweiss Financial Services, Prakash Industries, Polaris Financial Technology, Orient Cement and McNally Bharat Engineering Company to his portfolio. He bought a 1.45 per cent stake in MCX through open market purchases in the June quarter. He added another 1.96 per cent MCX stake at Rs 664 a share. On Monday, the stock closed at Rs 824 apiece.

However, he lowered his holding in Titan Company, Lupin, CRISIL, Karur Vysya Bank and A2Z Maintenance Engineering Services.

Also, in addition to the companies where he has more than one per cent stake, there also are some other assets — he is said to have bought properties worth more than Rs 100 crore in Mumbai. He is also said to be the owner of a number of horses, according to news reports.