Rakesh Jhunjhunwala (1960-2022): The Wizard

EARLIER THIS YEAR when Open met Rakesh Jhunjhunwala in his office at Nariman Point, he looked particularly frail. Outside the conference room where he sat that day, the rest of the office was bursting with life. Young employees carried files to and fro and wherever you rested your eyes, from tea coasters to the frames on walls, there was a quote of financial wisdom waiting for you.

Inside, Jhunjhunwala was bound to a wheelchair in a near-empty room. The pandemic hadn’t been particularly bad for him. Jhunjhunwala had made a lot of money in the bull run that took off during this period—and he recalled with some relish how he had been the first to call such a run in the midst of the lockdown. But this period had been challenging in other more quotidian ways. “It was tough yaar,” he said. “You couldn’t go anywhere. Just sit home like a potted plant. Damn frustrating.” His face was a picture of weariness and longing. And as he uttered those words, for a minute you could picture him thinking about his favourite watering hole, the pub Geoffrey’s just minutes away, where he was known to sit at the end of a long day at the market with a large whisky (he only ordered in doubles, as the legend went), dispensing wisdom (but never stock tips) at the crowd that would invariably gather around him.

As it turned out, Jhunjhunwala, who died on August 14, had been unwell for some time. A diabetic with chronic kidney disease, it was eventually a sudden cardiac arrest that led to his death.
Jhunjhunwala was India’s most famous investor. He was dubbed the “Big Bull” for his optimism about the Indian economy, and was even called “India’s Warren Buffett”. His word was gospel on Dalal Street, his every move on the market watched with hawk-like alertness and his words scrutinised by legions of fans hoping to duplicate a fraction of his success.

Much of Jhunjhunwala’s story is well-known by now. How the teenaged son of an income-tax officer came to the market in the 1980s with just `5,000 and how he turned that over time into a fortune that was, according to reports, about $5.8 billion at last count, or, as he would like to put it, “less than what people think, but much more than I would need”.

Jhunjhunwala may have been seen as someone who made his fortune by taking big risks. But most of his wealth came through strategic, long-term investments in companies such as the watchmaker and jeweller Titan or the credit-ratings agency Crisil. In fact, his personal journey in the market in many ways mirrored India’s growth after the economy was liberalised in the 1990s. In the interview with Open, Jhunjhunwala said his investment decisions were always made bereft of emotions and based on clear analysis. But the philosophy that proved most beneficial to him, he said, was his bullishness on the India story. “What society needs for growth are three things: skills, hard work, and democracy. India has all of this in abundance,” he said.

Jhunjhunwala was also a supporter of the Narendra Modi government, which according to him, was based on what he viewed as the government’s reformist agenda. While he made a lot of money by holding long-term positions on some big winners, he also placed bets on what many would consider volatile businesses, such as India’s newest airline, Akasa Air.

But as cut-throat as the world of financial markets is, Jhunjhunwala was known to have a soft side. He was very attached to his wife Rekha, and he was known to be a doting father to his three children. On TV, he would sometimes break down when he spoke about his parents.

In recent years, Jhunjhunwala had begun speaking about his plans of giving away a considerable part of his fortune in charity, and of even winding up his trading activities. But when asked whether he planned to reduce his involvement in the market, he burst out into one of his big riotous laughs. “I’ve been wanting to wind up my trading activities for the last 20 years. Kuch hota nahin hai lekin,” he said. “My interest in the market is stopping me.”

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