Paints to Planes: Into the top 100
SERIOUS CASH This tranche also has property fat cats and an energy drink maker
(India) Paints
Abhay Vakil has been associated with Asian Paints since 1974. The company was co-founded by his father in 1942. He was then appointed managing director of the company in 2008-09 and is now a non-executive director in the firm.
Munot founded Kalpataru Constructions in 1969 and built it into one of Mumbai’s leading property developers, helped by his son Parag. Kalpataru also has presence in Pune, Jaipur, Hyderabad and Chennai. Among its showpiece projects is a luxury villa complex.
Vivek Chand Burman is chairman emeritus of Dabur company, one of India’s top ayurvedic products and consumer goods makers. He was chairman from 1998 to 2007, when the baton passed to his nephew Anand.
Mittal launched the Hoshiarpur-based Sonalika Group in 1969. Its main arm, International Tractors, is India’s No. 3 tractor-maker. Sonalika, a family run company, also makes multi-utility vehicles and engines.
Harsh Mariwala started his consumer goods company
Marico in 1990. Today,
Marico’s factories in India, Bangladesh, Egypt and
Vietnam ship products ranging from cooking oil to hair colour to 25 countries in Asia and Africa. (Uganda) Consumer goods & plastics
Amirali Karmali’s Ugandabased Mukwano Group manufactures cooking oils, fats, soaps, detergents, cosmetics and industrial plastics. Most of the company’s products are market leaders. Though Ugandan Indians were expelled by Idi Amin in 1972, Karmali returned in the 1980s to rebuild his business. In 1995, he relinquished control of the group to his son Alykhan Karmali, and became its chairman. (India) Chemicals, gas & energy
In 1963, Devendra Kumar Jain set up Industrial Oxygen Co, popularly known as Inox today. One of the group’s two highly successful listed companies is Gujarat Fluorochemicals. Other companies such as wind power operator Inox Wind, and Inox India and Inox Renewables are poised for listing.
Lucknow-born Manoj Bhargava, a Princeton University drop out, stumbled upon a formula for energy shots at a health trade fair. His 5-Hour’s company claims a 90% market share in the sector. Bhargava also owns 35% of 5-Hour’s parent company.
Suhail Rizvi made it big time in the early 2000s by taking control of the talent agency, International Creative
Management (ICM), and then helping Playboy go private. He also bought stakes in Summit Entertainment, which Lionsgate purchased in 2012 for $412 million. He invested the proceeds in Twitter. His firm Rizvi Traverse also has Facebook and Flipboard in its investment portfolio. (India) Engineering
In 1996, Anu Aga’s husband Rohinton passed away after her son Kurush had earlier died in a road accident. Thermax, an engineering company started by her father, had been managed by Rohinton before his death. Anu took over before retiring from the board in 2004. She has been succeeded by her daughter Meher. The family has a 62% stake in the company. (India) Health & personal care
Radhe Shyam Goenka acquired a Kolkata-based loss-making manufacturer of herbal products in 1978 with his life-long friend, Radhe Shyam Agarwal. Today, their health, beauty and personal care outfit Emami is a thriving firm. They also own a stake in Emami Paper, the country’s largest newsprint manufacturer. (UAE) Consumer electronics
Jumbo Electronics is one of the biggest names in consumer electronics, IT, telecommunications, home appliances, office automation and entertainment in the UAE. Vidya took over the business after her husband Manu died in 2002. (India) Property
Taking over his father’s construction business in 1997, Oberoi has built it into a successful Mumbai-based property operation. He is now constructing two midtown towers offering luxury residences and a hotel, both to be managed by Ritz-Carlton. Vikas Oberoi has a 75% stake in Oberoi Realty. Hotels
Singh’s Edwardian Group runs
US-based Radisson Hotels’
British properties under the
Radisson Edwardian banner, which now has 13 luxury four and five-star hotels. The group is planning to convert a site adjacent to a central London property into a hotel, cinema and restaurants. Singh bought his uncle out in 1979 to create Edwardian.
Sameer Gehlaut recently entered property development in London. He co-founded Indiabulls Financial Services, India’s first online brokerage company, in 1997. Under his leadership, the group has diversified into financial services, real estate and power with a combined net worth of $3.25 billion.
Asok and his elder brother Raj took over their father’s fabric business. In 2012, they split Royal Brothers. Today, Asok and his son Bobby run their Royal Group which has several hotels, office buildings and shopping centres in Singapore, with others in Malaysia, Indonesia and Australia. Pharmaceuticals
After coming from Kenya, Navin set up his own pharmacy in Chertsey, Surrey, at the site of a former grocery store. With his wife Varsha, he built a chain of 14 profitable pharmacies, which they sold in 1999. They then founded Chemidex and built a major pharmaceutical operation. Healthcare & e-commerce
In September 2013, Krishnan Ganesh and his wife Meena acquired Bengaluru-based Portea Medical which provides health care to patients on a transaction or subscription basis. Their investment platform Growth-Story has invested in a number of online businesses, grocery, jewellery and neighbourhood delivery services. (UAE) Retail
The Jashanmal family established a departmental store in Basra, Iraq, which stocked luxury goods for expatriates after oil was discovered there in 1919. Stores were then started in Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Tony Jashanmal is now the group’s executive director. He also has interests in print media, men’s accessories and fashion. (India) Conglomerate
Anand Mahindra runs the Mumbai-based Mahindra Group, formed in 1945. It makes the largest number of tractors in the world, manufactures motor vehicles and has a presence in aerospace, agriculture business and IT.
In the second instalment of the List, on March 17, MG George Muthoot, chairman of the Muthoot Group, was mentioned as having two brothers in the family business. In fact, he has three. The error is regretted.