Indian industrialist and a second-time member of India’s parliament, Vijay Mallya has an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion. He earned his net worth as a successful businessman and politician. He is chairman for multiple companies such as the United Breweries Group, an Indian conglomerate with diverse interests in brewing, distilling, aviation, pharmaceuticals, real estate, engineering, fertilizers, biotechnology and information technology, and also Kingfisher Airlines. He also owns the Formula-1 team, Force India and the Indian Premier League team, the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

Vijay Mallya was born on December 18, 1955 in Kolkata, India. He is the son of industrialist Vittal Mallya. He attended La Martiniere for Boys school in Kolkata in West Bengal where he was appointed House Captain for the Hastings house in his final year. He went to St. Xavier’s College in Kolkata where he graduated with a Bachelors degree in Commerce. After graduation, he worked as an intern at the American part of Hoechst in the United States. At the age of 28, he took over as the chairman of the company after his father’s sudden demise in 1983.

Mallya was elected to the Raiya Sabha, the Upperhouse of India’s Federal Parliament both in 2002 and 2010 as an independent candidate from his home state of Karnataka. He has received several professional awards both in India and abroad. He was conferred an honorary degree of Doctorate in Philiosophy in Business Administration by the Southern California University for Professional Studies of Santa Ana, California in 1977. He was awarded the Entrepreneur of the Year award at The Asian Awards in 2010. He was also nominated as a “Global Leader for Tomorrow” by the World Economic Forum. He has received the Legion of Honour, France’s highest civilian award.