Once I hear Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s identify, the very first thing that involves my thoughts is his love for India; his love for the markets; love for his mates; and his love in the direction of life. Rakesh was greater than only a particular person – and irrespective of nonetheless you attempt to describe him, truth stays that he was a really distinctive character.
Rakesh was an India bhakt (worshipper), and a fantastic believer within the ‘India story’. He would combat with anyone who spoke in opposition to India. He was a terrific India storyteller, a terrific believer. However above all, he was a fantastic human being.
Top-of-the-line issues about him was that he needed folks, his mates, and the plenty at giant, to generate profits… And that is why, regardless of having no real interest in tv interviews, he was everywhere in the media. He would go in opposition to his personal norms to assist folks generate profits.
That was the spirit of the person.
Deep down, he was a philanthropist and all the time marinated that 25-30 per cent of his earnings should go in the direction of charity. I had recognized him since 1988, and since then I’ve been seeing his conviction on India, his conviction on shares, conviction on the state of the market. He would all the time say it is not about creating wealth, however about being proper. He all the time believed in predicting concerning the corporations, concerning the economic system, concerning the world. So, at some degree, he was an financial thinker as nicely.
Rakesh had an incredible sense of markets. He was all the time a lot forward of time within the inventory he had wager on – courtesy his intensive analysis – that he was nearly a visionary when it got here to predicting a inventory’s trajectory. He might see it was a writing on the wall. He could be fearless, and share his investments.
In contrast to many, Rakesh wouldn’t hesitate in disclosing his positions. He would all the time inform the shares he purchased, how a lot he purchased, the value, and the explanation behind his buy. So, in that sense, he was a personal investor, investing his personal cash. And that was additionally the explanation for the type of threat he took, and the type of conviction he introduced on the desk.
I keep in mind him shopping for Titan in 2002-03 with nice conviction. He had an incredible liking for Tata Group corporations. Titan was an funding wager in 2002-03. There was some dealer who needed to eliminate 25-50 lakh shares. And he present in him a purchaser; he was all the time a cut price hunter. Again then, he might haven’t imagined what the inventory would possibly grow to be. All he knew was that he was shopping for a high-quality firm at a fantastic worth. Since then, one success led to a different, and he saved rising his place.
I consider Rakesh had a sixth sense, or some form of intuitive foresight. And although we had been companions in crime within the sense that we each had been bulls; I might say that nobody might come near him within the ‘Bull race’. On a scale of 1 to 100, there was only one ‘Massive Bull’ within the markets – and that was Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, and all different bulls would come after that.
He has had so many blessings from all his mates, as a result of Rakesh all the time tried to assist them. Be it cash or steerage, his mates might all the time seek the advice of him on something. That made him prolific. He was a terrific chief, and an excellent chartered accountant.
Jhunjhunwala: The Bull of all seasons
Rakesh was the Perma bull, and a terrific cut price picker/hunter. Since he knew about most Indian corporations, he had a terrific sense of tops and bottoms (and when to purchase and promote a inventory).
So, if one had been to proceed Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s legacy, she ought to place confidence in India’s story; search for bargains after which harvest your cut price.
I feel his latest wager – Akasa Air – is the last word cut price. He obtained the plane at such nice reductions. This cut price, together with the fairness by him and his mates, will type the core of the corporate. In fact, not all his bargains had been nice, and he should have paid a worth for it. However the good ones had been a thousand instances higher.
Raamdeo Agrawal is co-founder and chairman, Motilal Oswal Monetary Providers.
(As informed to Puneet Wadhwa)
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