Vijay Mallya

Mallya was born on 18 December 1955 in Calcutta, West Bengal, India. He was educated at La Martiniere Calcutta, where he was appointed House Captain of Hastings house in his final year, and at St. Xavier's College, Calcutta, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce degree (with honours) in 1970 . While in college, Mallya interned in his family businesses. After graduating, he interned at the American part of Hoechst AG in the United States.

Vijay Mallya is the Chairman of the United Beverages (UB) Group. He recently launched a new domestic airline called Kingfisher Airline which is making great waves. Vijay Mallya is famous for his flamboyant and flashy lifestyle.

He assumed the Chairman of the UB Group in 1983 and took the company to great heights. Under his dynamic leadership the group has grown into a multi-national conglomerate of over sixty companies. During this process United Beverages acquired several companies abroad. The UB Group has diversified business interests ranging from alcoholic beverages to life sciences, engineering, agriculture, chemicals, information technology and leisure.

In 2005, Vijay Mallya established Kingfisher Airlines. In a short span of time Kingfisher Airline has carved a niche for itself. It was the first airline in India to operate with all new aircrafts. Kingfisher Airlines is also the first Indian airline to order the Airbus A380.

KINGFISHER AIRLINES

Kingfisher Airlines Limited was an airline group based in India. Its head office was in Andheri (East), Mumbai and registered office in UB City, Bengaluru. Kingfisher Airlines, through its parent company United Breweries Group, had a 50% stake in low-cost carrier Kingfisher Red. Until December 2011, Kingfisher Airlines had the second largest share in India's domestic air travel market. However, the airline had been facing financial issues for many years, and due to a severe financial crisis faced by the airline at the beginning of 2012, this share dropped to the lowest in the market in April 2012.

The airline had shut down its operations and locked out its employees for several days when on 20 October 2012 the DGCA suspended its flight certificate. The suspension resulted from the airline's failure to give an effective response to the show-cause notice issued by the DGCA. On 25 October 2012, its employees agreed to return to work. However, in February 2013 the Indian government announced the withdrawal of both domestic and international flight entitlements allocated to the airline. The CEO quit on 17 February 2014

Mallya is the Chairman of public companies both in India and the US. He has been the Chairman of Sanofi India (previously Hoechst AG and Aventis) as well as the Chairman of Bayer CropScience in India for over 20 years, in addition to being the Chairman of several other companies.

He also co-owns the Formula One team Sahara Force India. His companies own Indian Premier League team Royal Challengers Bangalore, the I-League teams Mohun Bagan A.C. and East Bengal F.C. He is also a member of the World Motor Sport Council representing India in the FIA.

AWARDS

• In 2004, he placed the winning bid of £175,000 for the sword of Tipu Sultan at an auction in London, and brought it back to India.

• Subsequently, he bought 30 other items owned by Tipu Sultan from auction houses in the UK, including a cannon, other weapons, and personal items.

• In March 2009, Mallya successfully bid for belongings of Mahatma Gandhi for US$1.8 million, in a New York auction that initially caused an uproar in India and its government tried and failed to prevent it from going under the hammer.