Vijay Mallya is in news, but not for any good reasons. The way things have panned out in the past couple of years for this business giant, bad news has now become normality for him. This time its the auction of his private jet.
The Mumbai International Airport Private Limited sold his 9-seater jet for a mere 22 lakh rupees. In order to pay the dues accumulated by his failed venture, Kingfisher Airlines, he had to take this harsh decision. And what’s even worse is that the company which bought it, Silent enterprises, will be dismantling the aircraft and then sell it as scrap.
The situation was not always this bad, in 2013, his net valuation was a whopping US$750 million. Almost everyone knew about the luxurious lifestyle which Vijay Mallya led. He was always looked upon as a brat who loved partying and alcohol, and was a total playboy when it came to women.
It was because of this image he created of himself, people never actually got to see the struggle and hard work which he did to reach there. In spite of being the son of a popular industrialist, Vittal Mallya, life was never that easy for him. Until his graduation from University of Calcutta, he had a very ordinary life. He used to go to college by trams and worked at a very low salary of Rs. 400 a month as a trainee in his father’s industry.
The turning point in his life came when he became the chairman of the United Breweries Group at young age of 28, following the untimely demise of his father. The whole burden of the company was on his young shoulders. Experts from the business fraternity believed that the inherited fortune by him will be soon squandered away.
But that is not what happened.
Within no time he proved himself as an excellent deal maker with an innovative vision. It was his emphatic leadership which pushed UB group to become an International conglomerate. More than 60 companies come under this group including it’s famour beer brand Kingfisher. The UB group has major interests in beverage alcohol, real estate, aviation infrastructure, fertilizers and chemical industries.
The now grounded, Kingfisher Airlines, was the brain child of Vijay Mallya. At a time when the airline industry was heavily dominated by Indian Airlines and Jet Airways, Mallya decided to launch Kingfisher Airlines in the year 2005, shedding all inhibitions, with a tagline ‘The king of good times’. It was just a matter of time for his airline company, to stand at par with all the other leading airline companies of India.
For people who doubt his business skills should have a look at the number of professional awards he has received over the years for his excellent management and business decisions. Among the notable ones are the Doctorate degree he received by the Souther California University in the field of Philosophy and Business Administration and Officiee de la Legion d’Honneu, a very prestigious French award.
All this success and glory may look gloomy from where Vijay Mallya is standing right now. But it’s definitely not the end for him. He is pulling some strings to regain what he has lost over the last two years. And being the champion businessman he is, one can definitely not count him out, even after he lost his private plane.
