Vijay Mallya

Age: 50
Residence: Bangalore, India, Australia
Industry: Beverages
Marital Status: married, 3 children

Calcutta University, Bachelor of Arts / Science

Business

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,lifesciences, engineering, agriculture, chemicals, information technology, aviation andleisure. 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).

1) Kingfisher Airlines

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.

2) Air Deccan

Mallya's Kingfisher airlines have a 46% stake in Air Deccan, a low cost airline in India.

Mallya also owns the Mohun Bagan Athletic Club and the East Bengal Football Club in Kolkata

Hobbies

1) Epic Aircraft

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. This move helps Mallya to expand from operating aircraft to aircraft manufacture.

In September 2007, Mallya became a new strategic partner for Epic Aircraft.

2) Formula 1 in New Delhi

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, F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone, and Delhi CM Sheila Dixit. F1 track designer Hermann Tilke has designed a layout for a street-race like Monaco in New Delhi. 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.

The set-up cost of the race would be at least U$100 million. 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.

Mallya and the Mol family from The Netherlands bought for 88 million Euros the Spyker F1Force India F1 from the 2008 Season. team. The team will change its name to

Political career

Mallya was educated at La Martiniere Boys' College in Kolkata 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.

Achievements

• 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.

Source: http:\\en.wikipedia.org