From ₹5,000 to ₹31,905 cr: Journey of Big Bull Rakesh Jhunjhunwala

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, the big bull of the Indian share market, passed away on Sunday morning at a Mumbai hospital. Jhunjhunwala, who was regarded as "India's Warren Buffett", died at the age of 62. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among the first to pay tribute to the ace investor and said the big bull "leaves behind an indelible contribution to the financial world."

A chartered accountant (CA) by profession, Jhunjhunwala was known for his passion for the share market, who was followed by almost every stock enthusiast. As per Trendlyne data, his net worth stood at a whopping ₹31,905 crore at the end of July 2022.

Let’s look at the Journey of veteran investor who will be remembered for his major contribution to the financial world:

Born on July 5, 1960, Jhunjhunwala had an estimated net worth of ₹31,905 crore (as of July 2022) making him the 36th richest man in India. Jhunjhunwala, who was born to an Indian Tax officer in a middle class family in Mumbai, began trading in the stock market in 1985, when in college, with an initial investment of ₹5,000. Recently, he forayed into the aviation market with his latest venture Akasa airlines, which took to the skies last week. Akasa Air, India’s newest airline, took its first flights on August 12, after successfully commencing its commercial operations with its maiden flight on August 7, 2022. The airline has started its commercial operations with two aircraft and plans to induct two 737 MAX aircraft each month, to establish a strong pan-India presence, with a focus on metro to tier 2 & 3 route connectivity.

Jhunjhunwala and his wife, Rekha Jhunjhunwala, made investment in the share market through their trading firm Rare Enterprises, which was established in 2003. Based in Mumbai, Rare Enterprises, known to derive its name from first two initials of his and his wife Rekha’s names — ‘Ra’ from Rakesh; ‘Re’ from Rekha, is a leading private equity investment and asset management firm which invests in sectors such as biotechnology, digital entertainment, education, healthcare and hospitality.

As per the latest shareholding pattern, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and associates publicly owned 32 stocks with a net worth of over ₹31,904.8 crore as of July, 2022.

Jhunjhunwala was known for his never-ending love for Titan Company (Titan Industries until 2013), which began over 21 years ago. The shareholding disclosure history of Titan Company shows that Jhunjhunwala, along with his wife Rekha, held a 1.57% stake in Titan Company back in June 2002. Going by Jhunjhunwala’s latest disclosure to the bourses, he owned 5.1% stake in the jewellery-to-watch market.

Among other Tata Group companies, he owned stake in Tata Motors (1.1%), Tata Communications (1.1%), Rallis India (9.8%), and Indian Hotels Company (2.1%).

As of July 2022, his biggest investment was in Titan Company, which is worth ₹ 11,086.9 crore, followed by Star Health and Allied Insurance Company with ₹ 7,017.5 crore and Metro Brands at ₹ 3,348.8 crore.

Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio also includes Escorts Kubota Ltd., Anant Raj, Agro Tech Foods, Canara Bank, Crisil Ltd., Edelweiss Financial Services Ltd., Fortis Healthcare Ltd., Jubilant Pharmova Ltd., Karur Vysya Bank Ltd., Man Infraconstruction, Orient Cement, Prozone Intu Properties Ltd., Va Tech Wabag, Wockhardt, Bilcare, Dishman Carbogen Amcis Ltd, Jubilant Ingrevia, Aptech Ltd, Federal Bank Geojit Financial Services Ltd., Indiabulls Housing Finance Ltd., Autoline Industries Ltd., D B Realty Ltd., and NCC Ltd.

Previously, he also invested in various other listed companies such as Delta Corp Ltd., Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd., National Aluminium Company Ltd., TV18 Broadcast Ltd., Firstsource Solutions Ltd., GMR Infrastructure Ltd., Lupin, Multi Commodity Exchange of India Ltd., Prakash Industries Ltd., Steel Authority of India (SAIL) Ltd., VIP Industries Ltd., Ion Exchange (India) Ltd., Heads UP Ventures Ltd., Prakash Pipes Ltd., and TARC Ltd.