Vijay Mallya

Vijay Mallya is an Indian entrepreneur and a former politician. He was born on 18 December 1955 in Mangaluru, Karnataka, India. His parents are VittalMallya, his father, and Lalitha Ramaiah Mallya, his mother. He got educated at La Martinière Calcutta. He got his Bachelor of Commerce mark (with honours) in 1976 from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata. He interned in his family business while he was in college, and later after graduation, he interned at the American part of Hoechst AG in the United States. He met and wedded Sameera Sharma, an air hostess of Air India, in 1986. Their son is named Siddharth Mallya. Mallyaremarried Rekha in 1993. He had known her since childhood, and they have two daughters, Leanna and Tanya. He is the ex-chairman of United Spirits, the major spirits company in India.

He continues to be the chairman of United Breweries Group, an Indian multinational with interests including beverage alcohol, aeronautics infrastructure, real estate, and enricher. He has worked as the chairman of Sanofi India (previously known as Hoechst AG and Aventis) and of Bayer CropScience in India for over twenty years. He has been the chairman of several other companies as well. United Spirits Ltd. Managed to sell a hundred million cases and became the second-largest spirits corporation in the world by volumeunder Mallya's chairmanship. Kingfisher Airlines, recognized in 2005, was a key business venture launched by Mallya but ultimately became insolvent and had to be shut down. Mallya joined hands with the Subramanian Swamy-led Janata Party in 2003 and operated as its National Working President until 2010.

He was elected to Rajya Sabha twice as an independent member from his home state Karnataka. He resigned from his post as a Rajya Sabha MP on 2 May 2016. He has received several awards in India as well as overseas. Officier de la Légion d'Honneur an award of recognition in France. He received an Honorary degree of Doctorate of Philosophy in Business Administration. He ordered "Global leader for tomorrow" by World Economic Forum. He also got the Entrepreneur of the Year" award at The Asian Awards.