Vijay Mallya Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Children, Family, Biography & More

Bio
Full Name	Vijay Vittal Mallya
Nickname	The King of "Good Times"
Profession(s)	Businessman, Politician
Political Journey	• Became a member of the Akhila Bharata Janata Dal in 2000. • Elected to the Rajya Sabha in 2002 as an independent member from his home state of Karnataka. • In 2003, joined the Subramanian Swamy led Janata Party. • From 2003-2010, served as the National Working President of Janata Dal. • Re-elected to the Rajya Sabha for a second term in 2010. However, this time as a member of the BJP.
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 175 cm in meters- 1.75 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 9”
Eye Colour	Hazel Brown
Hair Colour	Salt & Pepper
Personal Life
Date of Birth	18 December 1955 (Sunday)
Age (as of 2024)	69 Years
Birthplace	Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Zodiac sign	Sagittarius
Nationality	Indian
Hometown	Kolkata, West Bengal
School	La Martinière Calcutta (LMC), Kolkata, West Bengal
College	St Xavier's College, Kolkata, West Bengal
Educational Qualifications	B.Com. (Hons.)
Family	Father- Vittal Mallya Mother- Lalitha Ramaiah (biological mother), Ritu Mallya (step-mother) Brother- N/A Sisters- N/A
Religion	Hinduism
Hobbies	Watching F1 Car Race, Horse Breeding, Listening to vintage music
Controversies	• Debt-ridden Vijay Mallya's now defunct Kingfisher Airlines made headlines when it failed to pay the outstanding salaries and dues to its employees after starting international operations. The airlines which was once the second largest airline in India in terms of the number of passengers it carried soon started incurring huge losses. Its net losses widened from Rs 188 crore in 2007-08 to INR 1,608 crore the following financial year. As a result, the company's debt surged to INR 5,665 crore by the end of 2009. • Despite an enormous debt, Vijay Mallya somehow kept extracting loans from the banks. IDBI Bank fell bait to the businessman and sanctioned another INR 950 crore loan to the company. The intentions of the businessman were, however, looking doubtful to the consortium of banks and hence Mallya was declared a "willful defaulter" in late 2014. • In March 2016, SBI led consortium moved to the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) to cancel Mallya’s passport. However, the beleaguered businessman, always being a step ahead, had already relocated to London to evade arrest. • In April 2017, the Scotland Yard arrested the king of 'good times' on an extradition warrant. However, he was later granted bail and released on a bond of £6,50,000. Mallya even took a dig at Indian media with the following tweet, post the entire episode. Notably, only one person has been extradited in 24 years, post the India-U.K. Extradition Treaty of 1993. • On 20 April 2020, the London High Court rejected Mallya's appeal in his extradition case to India. [1]NDTV • On 11 July 2022, the Supreme Court of India sentenced him to four months in jail and imposed a fine of Rs. 2,000 on him for a 2017 contempt of court case. [2]NDTV • In March 2023, the CBI, in its chargesheet, claimed that he had enough money between 2008 and 2017 to repay banks, from where he had taken loans for his Kingfisher Airlines Limited (KAL), and he bought “personal assets” worth Rs 330 crores across Europe, including England and France, and transferred money to his children’s trusts in Switzerland. [3]India Today
Awards/Honours	• Awarded the honorary degree of "Doctorate of Philosophy" in Business Administration, by the Southern California University for Professional Studies in 1997. • Awarded the Legion of Honour, the highest civilian award in France. • Honored with the title of "Global leader for tomorrow" by World Economic Forum. • Bestowed with the "Entrepreneur of the Year" award at The Asian Awards in 2010.
Favourites
Colour	Red
Car	Bentley
Food	Kane Rava, (Kane fish in rava batter), Kori Gasi, Appams, Sannas, Mishti Doi, Crabs
Wine	Ferrari Carano
Fashion Brands	Armani, Valentino, Manoviraj Khosla, Roberto Cavalli
Girls, Affairs and More
Marital Status	Married
Affairs/Girlfriends	Pinky Lalwani, former Kingfisher Airlines employee
Wife	Sameera Tyabjee Mallya, former Air-hostess (m.1986-1987) Rekha Mallya (m.1993-present)
Children	Son- Siddharth Mallya (son from first wife) Daughters- Leanna Mallya, Tanya Mallya, Leila Mallya (step- daughter)
Money Factor
Net Worth (approx.)	INR 615 Crore (as in 2014)
Car Collection	Ferrari 1965 California Spyder, Ensign MN08, Jaguar XJ220, Jaguar XJR15 Race car, Bentley, Mercedes-Benz 300 SL, Chevrolet Corvette, Porsche 550 Spyder, Maserati Quattroporte, Rolls Royce
Jet Collection	Boeing 727, Airbus A319 ACJ, Gulfstream III, Hawker HS125
House/Estate	• Kingfisher Villa worth INR 75 Crore in Goa • A lavish home worth $1.2 million in Sausalito, California • "Le Grand Jardin" on The Sainte-Marguerite Island (about half a mile off shore from the French Riviera town of Cannes) • Kunigal Stud Farm, Kunigal, Karnataka • A penthouse worth $2.4 million in Trump Plaza, New York, USA • Clifton Estate worth $8.4 million in Cape Town, South Africa • Owns 99.5% stake in the 25,000-acre game reserve named 'Mabula Game Lodge' near Johannesburg, South Africa • A “country home” in Hertfordshire, England • Keillour Castle, Perthshire, Scotland • A sea-facing bungalow on Napean Sea Road, South Mumbai • A house on the plush Sardar Patel Marg in New Delhi

Some Lesser Known Facts About Vijay Mallya

• Does Vijay Mallya smoke: Yes 

• Does Vijay Mallya drink alcohol: Yes 

• Mallya was born with a silver spoon in his mouth as his father, Vittal Mallya, was a ‘big’ name in the liquor Industry. Vittal, who was the first Indian director of the United Breweries Ltd, eventually became the Chairman of the company and acquired many breweries and distilleries across India.

• While in College, Mallya worked as an intern in his family’s businesses. In addition, after graduating, the future ‘King of Good Times” interned at Hoechst AG, a Chemical company in the United States.

• After the demise of his father in 1983, Mallya was elected the Chairman of the United Breweries Group (UB Group). Walking in the footsteps of his father, Mallya went on to acquire 60+ companies in a short span of time. Under his control, the conglomerate’s annual turnover surged by 64% over 15 years to US$11 billion in 1998–1999.

• In terms of sales, ‘Kingfisher beer’ has more than 50% market share in India. Notably, the beer is available in over 5o countries across the globe.

• Mallya added another achievement to his list of ‘accolades’ when United Spirits Ltd, the flagship company of the UB Group, achieved the historic milestone of selling 100 million cases. With this, the company became the second-largest spirits company in the world by volume. However, in 2015, Mallya was forced to step down as the Chairman of the United Spirits Ltd. A full-time settlement of $75 million, which Mallya was supposed to get after the deal, was blocked by the Indian Courts as he had “wilfully defaulted” on his loan repayment amounting to INR 9000 Crores.

• Mallya further expanded his business and laid the foundation of “Kingfisher Airlines” in 2003. The Airlines became an instant success as the service standards and comfort provided by it in the initial years was unmatchable. However, things soon took turn for the worse when Kingfisher Airlines acquired Air Deccan in 2007 and started operating internationally. Many experts believe that this move by Mallya was the biggest mistake of his career as his downfall began soon after. The airlines which was performing well domestically started making huge losses primarily because of its ‘failed’ international operations.

• By 2009-10, Kingfisher Airlines had accumulated a debt of over INR 7,000 crore. The airlines, which was once cruising, turned into a Non-Performing Asset (NPA) or a Bad Loan for the banks.

• Not many people known that Mallya is a highly religious person. No matter what, Mallya makes it a point to go on the Sabarimala pilgrimage every year. The beleaguered businessman even visited the Tirupati Temple everytime a new Kingfisher aircraft was commissioned. If that wasn’t enough, the business tycoon has made it a habit to leaving for an important meeting or event at an auspicious time.

• Mallya has an obsession for artifacts and unique things. In the year 2004, he bought Tipu Sultan’s sword at an auction in London, for a whopping £175,000. 4 years later, he bought the belongings of Mahatma Gandhi at approximately US$1.8 million, in a New York auction.
  

  Vijay Mallya holding Tipu Sultan’s Sword

• Aside from a plethora of Cars and Estates, Mallya has an impressive collection of yachts. He is, in fact, a proud owner of the “Indian Empress”, one of the world’s biggest yachts. It comprises a steam room, massage facilities, a cinema hall and a gymnasium.
  

  Vijay Mallya’s yacht

• The businessman is well-acquainted with a number of languages. He is a proficient speaker of Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada, Bengali, Konkani, English and French.

• The tycoon also likes sporting jewelry. He can often be seen sporting a huge diamond studded bracelet embodied with the initials “VJM”, ear solitaires that once belonged to her grandmother and an emerald pendant of Lord Venkateshwara.

• An avid sports enthusiast, Mallya has invested a lot of money in different sports. While in the IPL, he has a major stake in the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB), he owns two football clubs as well, namely the”East Bengal FC” and the “Mohun Bagan AC” in the Indian Football League. In addition, he co-owns the Formula One team “Sahara Force India”.