Vijay Mallya

Vijay Mallya

Chairman of the UB Group – an Indian conglomerate

Introduction:

Vijay Mallya born on 18 December 1955 in Bantwal, Dakshina Kannada, Karnataka.
He is an Indian industrialist and a second-time member of India’s parliament.
He has a diverse interests in brewing, distilling, pharmaceuticals, real estate, engineering,fertilizers, biotechnology and information technology.
He is the son of industrialist Vittal Mallya. He took over as the chairman of the company at the age of 28 after his father’s sudden demise in 1983.

Education:

He attended La Martiniere for Boys school in Kolkata (West Bengal), where he was appointed House Captain (Hastings house) in his final year.
He went up to St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata, from which he graduated with a Bachelors of Commerce degree.
After the graduation, he interned at the American part of Hoechst in the United States.

Industry profile:

UB group (United Breweries Group)

Vijay Mallya was unanimously elected Chairman of United Breweries.
He consolidated the various companies under one umbrella group called the “UB Group”.
Kingfisher beer controls more than 50 per cent market share of India’s beer market.
The beer is available in 52 countries outside India and leads the way among Indian beers in the international market.
United Spirits Ltd., the flagship of the UB Group, has achieved the historic milestone of selling 145 million cases, becoming the largest spirits company in the world by volume.

Kingfisher Airlines

Kingfisher Airlines was established in 2003. It is owned by the Bengaluru based United Breweries Group.
Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, has a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red.
Until December 2011, Kingfisher Airlines had the second largest share in India’s domestic air travel market.
The airline had shut down its operations when on 20 October 2012 the DGCA suspended its flying license.
In February 2013 the Indian government announced the withdrawal of both domestic and international flight entitlements allocated to the airline.

Vijay Mallya formed Sahara Force India Formula One Team on October 2007.
It is a Formula One racing team based in Silverstone, United Kingdom which currently holds an Indian licence.
Force India F1 represents increased Indian participation within Formula One, with Greater Noida having hosted the first Indian Grand Prix in 2011.
Force India won their first Formula One world championship points and podium place when Giancarlo Fisichella finished second in the 2009 Belgian Grand Prix, Force India scored points again in the following race when Adrian Sutil finished fourth, and set the team’s first fastest lap, at the Italian Grand Prix. Its best championship result was 6th in 2011.

The IPL Team : Royal challengers Bangalore is owned by Vijay Mallya, through his flagship firm UB Group.
Royal Challengers Bangalore is a cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka that plays in the Indian Premier League.
The director of the team is Sidhartha Mallya.
RCB plays its home matches at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium.
The franchise has been one of the most successful and consistent in the IPL having reached the semis/play-off’s every season apart from 2008,2012 and 2013.
They hold the joint record for most consecutive victories in the IPL having won 7 matches on the trot in the 2011 edition. The team has also qualified and played in all the seasons of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

Politics:

Mallya was elected to the Rajya Sabha – Upper House of India’s Federal parliament in both 2002 and 2010 as an independent candidate from his home state of Karnataka.

Ancient Auction Purchases:

In 2004, he bought the sword of Tipu Sultan at an auction in London, and brought it back to India.
In March 2009, Mallya bought five personal belongings of Mahatma Gandhi (his iconic eyeglasses, a pocket watch, leather sandals he had made by hand, and a plate and bowl from which he had eaten his last meal) for US$1.8 million in a New York auction that had caused an uproar in India; the government of India had tried and failed to prevent the sale.

Awards:

Vijay Mallya was conferred an honorary degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Business Administration, by the Southern California University for Professional Studies of Santa Ana, California.
In 2010 he was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year award at The Asian Awards.
He has also been a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum.

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