26-Oct-2023
2 mins read
14TH August 2022, this Sunday morning will be always remembered in the history of the Financial world as the day of sorrow when the whole country was celebrating Azaadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav to mark the 75th Independence day with full of joy and happiness all over the streets. The day started with the bad news of the passing away of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala who was the Veteran Investor and the living inspiration of many investors.
The news of the demise of the man with the golden heart with terrific knowledge and hold in the equity markets left the world shocked. The Veteran Investor was brought to the Candy Breach Hospital at 6:45 AM in the morning and was declared dead by the doctors. He was suffering from multiple health issues including kidney ailments and had been discharged from the hospital a few weeks ago.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, also known as the ‘big bull’ or ‘Indian Warren Buffett’ was born on 5th July 1960 in Mumbai. His father was an Income tax officer. He started his journey into the equity market right from his college days. He then enrolled at the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and after becoming a CA he decided to enter Dalal Street. He started with an investment of Rs.5000 in 1985 and today he left with a Net Worth of around 40000 crores.
He used to hear about the stock market talks between his father and his friends and got interested to enter into the world of equities. He got fascinated when he heard that the news in the newspaper fluctuated the stock markets. He was the risk taker from the start of his career and borrowed money from his brother’s client with the promise of returning it with a higher return than the bank fixed deposits.
In the year 1986, he made massive profits from his 5000 shares of TATA TEA which he purchased at Rs.43 and which rose to Rs.143 within three months of time. He earned almost 20–25 lakh in three years from the stock markets. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala manages a privately owned stock trading firm called ‘RARE Enterprises’. The name is derived from the first two initials of his name and his wife Mrs. Rekha Jhunjhunwala. In 2002–03, He bought ‘Titan’ at an average price of Rs.3, and currently, it is trading at a price of Rs.2140. He is holding over 4.4 crore shares of titan company. He has an ‘overall’ holding of 5.1% in the company as of March 2022.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala considers himself both a trader and a long-term investor. Here’s a quote from one of the interviews — “Short-term trading is for short-term gain. Long-term trading is for long-term capital formation. Trading is what gives you the capital to invest. My trading also helps my investing in the sense I use a lot of technical analysis for trading at times.”
He was a man with a mission and was always bullish on the Indian growth story and hence was recognized as the “Big Bull” of Dalal street. With his passion for the Indian stock markets and his words of wisdom, he is an icon for both the old as well as the new investors.
In the recent past, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala backed an airline known as Akasa Air. He is the co-founder of the newest airline and owns 40% of the company, along with Aditya Ghosh, former President of Indigo who will have a 10 percent stake in the airline. He passed away a week after the first flight of his new airline took off.
Prime Minister Modi was the first to remember him after his demise and attributed his contribution to the financial world as full of life, wit, and insight. Many big industrialists, investors, actors, cricketers, and veterans offered condolence messages on his demise.
India will remember him as a legend and will remain always in the hearts of the Indian investors. The Indian Warren Buffet Rakesh Jhunjhunwala is no more with us but his words of wisdom and his way towards achieving financial freedom will always inspire us in our Lives.
RIP The Legend Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. Om Shanti