Rakesh Jhunjhunwala: From Hyderabad to Mumbai’s Upmarket Malabar Hill, A Life Well Lived

Jhunjhunwala started trading in financial markets after joining college and invested his savings of Rs 5,000 in 1985. At that time, the Sensex was at 150 points.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

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New Delhi: Ace stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passed away in Mumbai at the age of 62, leaving Dalal Street in a tizzy. He died early in the morning due to a cardiac arrest, news agency PTI reported citing a source in his newly set up airline 'Akasa Air'. An investor with a Midas touch, Jhunjhunwala was the 48th richest man in the country. Often called "India's Warren Buffett" and the "Big Bull," his wealth was pegged at $5.8 billion, as per Forbes.

Born on July 5, 1960 in a Rajasthani family, Jhunjhunwala spent most of his childhood in Mumbai. His ancestors hailed from Jhunjhunu in Rajasthan. His father was an Income Tax Commissioner. After school, Jhunjhunwala attended Sydenham College before he joined the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

He first developed an interest in the stock market when he heard his father discussing it with friends.

Although Jhunjhunwala got advice on the market from his father, he did not get any money to invest.

However, Jhunjhunwala started trading in financial markets after joining college and invested his savings of Rs 5,000 in 1985. At that time, the Sensex was at 150 points.

Within a year, the stock market investor made a profit of Rs 5 lakh from his Tata Tea investment. He then bought 5,000 shares of the company at Rs 43 each and sold them at Rs 143 each. Between the year 1986 and 1989, Jhunjhunwala invested in blue-chip companies like Tata Power that rose in price by Rs 1,200 crore and doubled investors’ wealth from Rs 20 lakh to Rs 55 lakh.

Jhunjhunwala’s love for the Tata Group remained one of his most prized possessions till his final days.

He bought eight crore shares of Titan at an average price of Rs 5 per share in 2002-2003. The stock is trading at around Rs 1,751 today but the average price when he first bought the stock was Rs 5.

In 2017, he earned Rs 875 crore on a single day due to the hike in Titan’s share price.

Jhunjhunwala married Rekha on February 22, 1987 and the couple had three children.

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Their daughter Nishtha was born in 2004 after six cycles of IVF while twin sons Aryaveer and Aryaman were born in March 2009.

Notably, Rare Enterprises, his private stock trading company, is named after his and his wife’s initials.

In the year 2013, Jhunjhunwala bought half of a sea-facing building with six plush apartments in Mumbai’s upmarket Malabar Hill area for Rs 176 crore from Standard Chartered Bank, as per reports.

He owns a holiday home in Lonavala with seven bedrooms, a jacuzzi, pool, gym and disco.