Top 10 Facts about Vijay Mallya-Indian Liquor Baron-King of Good Times

King of Good Times 

1. Vijay Mallya’s Busines:

Vijay Mallya became the Chairman of the ‘United Breweries Group’ at the age of 28 years, after his father’ death.

The Annual Turnover of the ‘United Breweries Group’ increased by 64%, over a period of 15 years after Vijay Mallya took over the business.

The Liquor Brands of Vijay Mallya’s Group includes the following:

• King Fisher Beer,
• Royal Challenge,
• Bag Piper,
• Romanov and
• Black Dog etc.

As the owner of the ‘King Fisher’ Beer with more than 50% of the Indian Beer Market, Vijay Mallya was called the ‘Liquor Baron’. 

Vijay Mallya has acquired the following businesses:

• Berger Paints,
• Best and Crompton,
• Mangalore Chemicals& Fertilizers,
• The Asian Age Newspaper and
• Cine Blitz (A Bollywood Cinema Magazine).

The ‘Kingfisher Airlines’ had been  the ‘Dream Venture’ of Vijay Mallya, which  turned out to be the ‘Drowning Ship’ of his business empire.

2.Vijay Mallya’s Family:

Vijay Mallya married Sameera Tyabjee, an Air Hostess in the year 1986. 

Siddharth Mallya was born to the couple -Vijay Mallya and Sameera Tyabjee in the year 1987.

Vijay Mallya and Sameera Tyabjee got divorced after a few years.

Vijay Mallya married Rekha from Coorg, who was known to him since his childhood days, in the year 1993.

The couple -Vijay Mallya and Rekha have 2 daughters –Leanna and Tanya.

3. Awards and Honours Received by Vijay Mallya :

• Honorary degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Business Administration, by the Southern California University for Professional Studies- 1997
• Officer de la Legion d' Honneur, a high award of recognition in France.
• Global Leader for Tomorrow, World Economic Forum.
• Entrepreneur of the Year award at The Asian Awards-2010

4. Vijay Mallya the ‘Auction King’:

Vijay Mallya has successfully bid items of great historical value to India, such as the following:

• The Sword of Tipu Sultan’ for £1, 75,000 in the year 2004, at an auction in London,
• 30 other items owned by Tipu Sultan from Auction Houses in the United Kingdom and
• The belongings of Mahatma Gandhi for US $ 1.8 Million in an auction held at New York, USA

5. Political Career of Vijay Mallya: 

Vijay Mallya had been elected a Member of the Rajya Sabha, the Upper House of the Parliament of India, as an independent candidate and he was not belonging to any political party.

6. Vijay Mallya as a ‘Bank  Loans Defaulter’:

Vijay Mallya owes total Bank Loans of more than Rs 9000 Crores to 17 Banks.

State Bank of India/SBI has tagged Vijay Mallya as a ‘Willful Defaulter’.

As of 2^nd March 2016, Vijay Mallya has reportedly fled out of India in view of his heavy dues to Banks in India.

However, Vijay Mallya has tweeted that, he has not absconded and he is an 'International Businessman' frequently traveling to and staying in foreign countries.

7. Net Worth/ Assets of Vijay Mallya:

As of the year 2013, the Net worth of Vijay Mallya had been approximately US$750 million.

After the downfall of the King Fisher Airlines, his Net Worth has been reported by many sources to have come down to US $ 250 Million.

Vijay Mallya is reported to own many assets abroad, especially in UK and USA, including a private Jet Plane and a Yacht.

8. Sports Ventures of Vijay Mallya:

Vijay Mallya co-owns the ‘Formula One Team Sahara Force India’. 

Vijay Mallya’s companies own the Indian Premier League /IPL team-‘Royal Challenger Bangalore’ and the Foot Ball Teams- Mohun Bagan A.C. and East Bengal F.C. 

Vijay Mallya is a member of the 'World Motors Bangalore Port Council' representing India in the FIA.

9. Cars collections of Vijay Mallya: 

Vijay Mallya is a ‘car lover’ and has a collection of more than 200 cars and many of his cars are in California, USA.

A 100 year old Rolls-Royce car was purchased by him in the year 1980.

Many of his cars are reportedly ceased by banks in India for the loans outstanding/ overdue by Vijay Mallya.

10. Unknown facts about Vijay Mallya:

• Vijay Mallya loves Bentley
• His favourite wine is ‘Ferrari Carano’
• He speaks fluently in: Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Konkani, Gujarati and English; he also knows French.
• His favourite sweets are mishti doi and chocolates
• His favourite colour is Red
• He listens to English Retro Music of the 60’s and 70’s
• He is busy always in work or partying. (His wife Rekha on the other hand hates party)
• He makes sure to celebrate every family member’s birthday by being personally present.
• On his birthday (18^th December) he gets the entire family together beside him.
• Forbes has listed Vijay Mallya in 'Billionaires' ranking for many  years till the year 2013.
• His Kingfisher Airlines, which owes banks over $1 billion, have not paid salaries for 15 months to its staff members
• Blackberry is his constant companion.