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Vijay Mallya
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vijay Mallya (Konkani\Kannada: ವಿಜಯ ಮಲ್ಯ) (born December 18, 1955) is an Indian businessman and Rajya Sabha MP. The son of industrialist Vittal Mallya, he is the Chairman of the United Breweries Group and Kingfisher Airlines, which draws its name from United Breweries Group's flagship beer brand, Kingfisher.
In 2007 Mallya was ranked as the 664th richest person in the world with a net fortune of $1.5 billion.[1] He receives substantial press coverage that focuses on his lavish parties and his yacht, the Indian Empress.
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Mallya took over as Chairman of the United Breweries Group in 1983. Since then, the group has grown into a multi-national conglomerate of over sixty companies with an annual turnover which has increased by 439% to US$1.2 billion in 1998-1999 . The focal business areas of the group encompass alcoholic beverages, life sciences, engineering, agriculture, chemicals, information technology, aviation and leisure. He owned McDowell Crest, which took loans in crores of rupees from General Public.
In May 2007, United Breweries Group announced the all-cash acquisition of scotch whisky maker Whyte & Mackay for 595 million pounds (approximately Rs 4,819 crore).[2]
In 2005, Vijay Mallya established Kingfisher Airlines. In a short span of time, Kingfisher Airlines carved a niche for itself. It was the first airline in India to operate with brand new aircraft. It is the first Indian airline to place orders for the Airbus A-380. At present, the airline connects 32 cities.
Mallya's Kingfisher airlines has a 46% stake in Air Deccan, a low cost airline in India.
Mallya also owns the East Bengal Football Club in Kolkata.[citation needed]
Mallya has plans to pick up a personal, controlling stake in Epic Aircraft, a US-based aircraft manufacturing company Chandra Shipping. He recently flew into Oshkosh with his key team members and met Epic Aircraft CEO Rick Schrameck to sign this deal. Epic Aircraft is a manufacturer of private business jets (VLJ) with single and twin engines, capable of carrying six to seven people.[10]. This move helps Mallya to expand from operating aircraft to aircraft manufacture.
In September 2007, Mallya became a new strategic partner for Epic Aircraft.
Mallya now wants to bring a Formula 1 race to India as the Indian Grand Prix. New Delhi is the target, with a street-race being the favourite of Mallya, track designer Hermann Tilke,[3] F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone,[4] and Delhi CM Sheila Dixit. F1 track designer Hermann Tilke has designed a layout for a street-race like Monaco in New Delhi.[5] The plan is to have the first Indian F1 race in 2009-2010. Tilke has previously designed F1 tracks in Turkey, Shanghai, Bahrain and Malaysia.[6]
The set-up cost of the race would be at least U$100 million.[7] This is considerably less compared to building a brand new track specifically for car racing. Tilke wants the cars to go around India Gate and down Rajendra Prasad Rd.[8]
Mallya and the Mol family from The Netherlands bought for 88 million euros the Spyker F1 team.[9] The team will change its name to Force India F1 from the 2008 Season.[10]
Mallya was educated at La Martiniere Boys' College in Kolkata[11] and Calcutta University. He entered politics in 2000 and superseded Subramaniam Swamy as the president of the Janata Party, a breakaway faction of the original Janata Dal party. His party contested almost all of the 224 seats during the Karnataka State legislative election. He campaigned vigorously through the media, but his party failed to make any impact and did not win a single seat. Following the party's failure in the elections, it has been largely ignored by the media.
- Establishment of Mallya Hospital in Bangalore.
- Helped to fund the Mallya Aditi International School, a prestigious private school in Bangalore.
- Successfully bid for a sword of Tipu Sultan of Mysore, and brought it back to India.[12]
Mallya is married and has three children. He has a home in Sausalito, Calif., and is often seen around town driving his Mercedes-Benz Maybach.
- Indian Empress - Private Yacht owned by Vijay Mallya.
- ^ Vijay Mallya, The World's Billionaires, Forbes.com accessed September 2007
- ^ BBC News: Whisky giant sold to billionaire
- ^ [1]
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- ^ 'Vijay Mallya: The spirit shall prevail'. The Times of India online edition, 22 April 2002.
- ^ [9]
- Indian Empress - Photos of Vijay Mallya's latest megayacht.
- Vijay Mallya: High life - Flight Global's Article on Vijay Mallya
- Vijay Mallya is not your typical brewer - SF Chronicle overview giving a broad picture of him
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Personnel: Vijay Mallya |  Michiel Mol |  Colin Kolles |  James Key | Mike Gascoyne
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Categories: All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007 | Chief executives | Indian businesspeople | Indian politicians | Indian philanthropists | Indian racecar drivers | People from Karnataka | Old Martinians | 1955 births | Living people | Indian billionaires | Rajya Sabha Members | Formula One people