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Vijay Mallya

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Dr. Vijay Mallya
Born (1955-12-18) December 18, 1955 (age 68)
Bantwal, Karnataka, IN
Occupation(s)Rajya Sabha MP,qwe Chairman- United Breweries Group, Kingfisher Airlines, Force India, Royal Challengers Bangalore, United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders

Dr. Vijay Mallya (Kannada/Konkani: ವಿಜಯ ಮಲ್ಯ) : (born December 18, 1955) is an Indian businessman and Rajya Sabha MP. The son of industrialist Vittal Mallya, he is the Chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines, which draws its name from United Breweries Group's flagship beer brand, Kingfisher.

As of 2008, Mallya was ranked as the 962nd richest person in the world and the 42nd in India with a net worth of US$1.2 billion. [1] He receives substantial press coverage that focuses on his lavish parties and his yacht, the Indian Empress.

Personal life

Mallya is originally from the town of Bantwal in Karnataka. He was educated at La Martiniere Boys' College, Calcutta in Kolkata[2] and completed his degree from St. Xavier's College, Calcutta under Calcutta University. Mallya is married twice. His first wife was Sameera and they have a son together, named Sidhartha Vijay Mallya. After separation with his first wife he got married to Rekha and has two daughters Leana and Tanya Mallya. Mallya has a home in Sausalito, California, USA.

Business

Breweries

Mallya took over as Chairman of the United Breweries Group in 1983. Since then, the group has grown into a multi-national conglomerate of over sixty companies with an annual turnover which has increased by 439% to US$1.2 billion in 1998-1999 . The focal business areas of the group encompass alcoholic beverages, life sciences, engineering, agriculture, chemicals, information technology, aviation and leisure. He owned McDowell Crest, which took loans in crores of rupees from the general public.

In May 2007, United Breweries Group announced the all-cash acquisition of scotch whisky maker Whyte & Mackay for 595 million pounds (approximately Rs 4,819 crore).[3] In 2005 he took over Millennium Breweries Ltd (formerly known as inertia industries ltd), which owned the two premium beer brands named SANDPIPER and ZINGARO>

He could buy Newcastle utd. to increase his business.

Airlines

File:Kingfisher hording.JPG
A hoarding of Kingfisher Airlines with Vijay Mallya's signature

In 2005, Vijay Mallya established Kingfisher Airlines. At present, the airline connects 32 cities. Mallya's Kingfisher airlines recently obtained 26% stake in Air Deccan, a low cost Indian airline. Mallya plans to pick up a personal, controlling stake in Epic Aircraft, a US-based aircraft manufacturing company. He recently flew into Oshkosh with his key team members and met Epic Aircraft CEO Rick Schrameck to sign this deal. Epic Aircraft is a manufacturer of private business jets (VLJ) with single and twin engines, capable of carrying six to seven people.[1]. This move helps Mallya to expand from operating aircraft to aircraft manufacture. In September 2007, Mallya became a new strategic partner for Epic Aircraft.

Association with sports

Formula 1

Force India

Mallya co-owns F1 racing team Force India (earlier Spyker). Mallya and the Mol family from The Netherlands bought the Spyker F1 team for 88 million euros.[4] The team changed its name to Force India F1 from the 2008 Season.[5]

Indian Grand Prix

Mallya also has shown interest to hold a Formula 1 race in India as the Indian Grand Prix. Greater Noida near New Delhi is the target, track designer Hermann Tilke,[6] F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone,[7] and Delhi CM Sheila Dixit. F1 track designer Hermann Tilke has designed a layout for a street-race like Monaco in New Delhi.[8] The plan is to have the first Indian F1 race in 2009-2010. Tilke has previously designed F1 tracks in Turkey, Shanghai, Bahrain and Malaysia.[9] The set-up cost of the race would be at least U$100 million.[10] This is considerably less compared to building a brand new track specifically for car racing. Tilke wants the cars to go around India Gate and down Rajendra Prasad Rd.[11]

Football

Mallya's United Breweries sponsors the East Bengal and Mohun Bagan football clubs in Kolkata.[12]

Recently linked with buying into the new revolution at Queens Park Rangers FC, as part of the Bernie Ecclestone, Flavio Briatore and Lakshmi Mittal consortium.[13]

Cricket

Mallya's flagship firm UB Group owns the Royal Challengers Bangalore team in the Indian Premier League. He won this team in an auction by paying US$111.6 million for the team. The Royal Challengers Bangalore team includes players like Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble, Jacques Kallis, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Zaheer Khan, Mark Boucher,Sunil Joshi and Dale Steyn.

After the poor performance of his team in IPL, the liquor baron said he had some players in mind but Rahul Dravid and Charu Sharma completely ignored them and went ahead with their own plan to select the players.

Horse racing

Mallya also owns the company, United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders (URBB) which has interests in horse racing. URBB runs the Kunigal stud farm, under lease from the Government of Karnataka.

Political career

Mallya entered politics in 2000 and replaced Subramanian Swamy as the president of the Janata Party, a breakaway faction of the original Janata Dal party. His party contested almost all of the 224 seats during the Karnataka State legislative election. He campaigned vigorously through the media, but his party failed to make any impact and did not win a single seat. Following the party's failure in the elections, it has been largely ignored by the media.

Achievements

File:UBtowers.JPG
UB city as seen from St.Joseph school ground
  • Establishment of Mallya Hospital in Bangalore. The hospital is located in Vittal Mallya road, named after his father.
  • Helped to fund the Mallya Aditi International School, a prestigious private school in Bangalore.
  • Successfully bid for the sword of Tipu Sultan at an auction in London in 2004, and brought it back to India.[14]
  • Initiated the development of prized real estate UB city, in the heart of Bangalore. The project hosts corporate offices, retail and service apartments.

See also

References

  1. ^ Vijay Mallya, The indias Billionaires, Forbes.com accessed March 2008
  2. ^ 'Vijay Mallya: The spirit shall prevail'. The Times of India online edition, 22 April 2002.
  3. ^ BBC News: Whisky giant sold to billionaire
  4. ^ Rediscover Formula One | Vijay Mallya bids for Formula One Team Spyker
  5. ^ Rediscover Formula One | Spyker is now officially FORCE INDIA formula one team
  6. ^ Another step forward for Indian GP - Racing news and opinions - Auto123.com - Canadian automotive network
  7. ^ F1 eyes Indian street race - News - EEMS
  8. ^ Formula One Briefs - AutoWeek Magazine
  9. ^ F1 eyes Indian race - Formula One News | SPORTBOX.tv - Nothing Inside But Sport
  10. ^ F1 News > More on the Indian F1 bid
  11. ^ Rediscover Formula One | Its Official : Tilke wants Rajpath to be Indian formula one track
  12. ^ "Mallya sore with Bagan brawls". Financial Express. 2004-10-03. Retrieved 2008-02-21.
  13. ^ "Indian Formula One high roller joins Ecclestone and Briatore's party at Queens Park Rangers". Daily Mail. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  14. ^ Habib Beary, "Tipu's sword back in Indian hands", BBC News, April 7, 2004.
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