It is said that one right decision of someone can reach him from floor to floor. On the other hand, a wrong decision can bring him from the floor to the floor. The same happened with the country’s famous industrialist Vijay Mallya, whose one decision proved to be the worst decision of his life. As a result of which he became the biggest fugitive of the country. On Vijay Mallya’s 66th birthday, let us know some interesting facts related to him.
Vijay Mallya, who is called The Kings of good Times, was born on 18 December 1955 in Kolkata, West Bengal in the house of the great industrialist of India, Vittal Mallya. His father was the chairman of the United Brewery Group during that time, and his mother’s name was Lalita Ramaiah. Vijay Mallya’s early education was from La Martiniere School in Kolkata, after which he completed his graduation with commerce honors from St. Xavier’s College. During his college, Vijay Mallya worked as an intern in his family companies.
Personal life of Vijay Mallya
Vijay Mallya met Air India’s air hostess Sameera Tyabji in the year 1986, after which he married her and after marriage both had a son, named Siddharth Mallya. However, this marriage could not last long and both of them got divorced. After this, Vijay Mallya married his childhood friend Rekha in the year 1993. From the second marriage, Mallya has two daughters, Tanya Mallya and Lena Mallya.
Vijay Mallya’s career
After the sudden death of his father in the year 1973, Vijay became the chairman of UB Group at the age of 28. Since then, the UB Group has grown into a multinational conglomerate comprising about 60 companies. From 1973 to 1999, the turnover of the group grew by about 64 percent. Vijay consolidated all the group companies and either sold or closed the loss making companies. He focused his attention on the group’s core business, alcohol. He not only consolidated his main business but also further diversified his business by acquiring several companies. He acquired many companies from different sectors. Prominent among these are Berger Paint, Best, Crompton, Malabar Chemicals and Fertilizers.
UB Group’s main company United Spirits Limited became the world’s second largest liquor seller under Vijay Mallya’s leadership. In 2012, the UB Group had to hand over the management control of United Spirits to British liquor giant Diageo.
Launched Kingfisher Airlines
Vijay Mallya started Kingfisher Airlines in the year 2005. It was the first airline in India to start operations with all new aircraft. With this, Kingfisher Airlines became the first airline in India to purchase an Airbus A380. Kingfisher Airlines, established in 2005, was a major business venture started by Mallya.
Due to financial mismanagement, the company was in huge losses for many years and then went bankrupt due to which it had to be closed in the year 2013. It eventually went bankrupt and had to be closed. As of October 2013, it had not paid salaries to its employees for 15 months. The airline was indebted to the tune of more than US$1 billion, after which the company lost its license.
Banks’ debt continued to increase on Vijay Mallya and by 2015 it had increased to more than nine thousand crores. At the same time, he left India and fled to Britain. When the bank loan was not returned by Mallya even after giving continuous notices, he was declared a fugitive under Indian law.
Political career of Vijay Mallya
Along with a famous industrialist, there was also a politician. In the year 2000, became a member of Akhil Bharatiya Janata Dal. After which in the year 2002, was elected to the Rajya Sabha as an independent member of his home state Karnataka. A year later, in the year 2003, joined the Janata Party under the leadership of Subramanian Swamy. He served as the National Acting President of the Janata Dal for seven years. In the year 2010, he was re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for the second term.