Radhakishan Damani to be at the helm of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Trust

Rare was founded by the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala.

Trusted friend, guru and ace investor-entrepreneur Radhakishan Damani is understood to be the main trustee of ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala’s estate. The other trustees include Kalpraj Dharamshi and Amal Parikh, both confidantes of Jhunjhunwala.

Jhunjhunwala’s firm Rare Enterprises will continue to be managed by his two trusted lieutenants Utpal Seth and Amit Goela. Utpal Sheth was helping Jhunjhunwala on the investment side and has been mainly focussing on private equity investments over the past few years. Amit Goela was his right hand man on the trading side and was also managing a trading book for the firm independently.

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala who died on August 14 has left his assets, including investments in listed and unlisted firms, mainly to his wife and three children. Berjis Desai, also the former managing partner of J Sagar Associates, is understood to have put together the will.

Sources close to the Rakesh Jhunjhunwala said the investor had planned everything meticulously as he had been ailing for the past eight months. “His wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala also hails from a business family and understands finance. She and his brother will also take a larger role in the firm’s management,” said sources familiar with the goings-on.

Jhunjhunwala had been winding up his speculative positions for the past few months and the trading book is next to negligible.

Jhunjhunwala’s estate was estimated at $5.8 billion, according to Forbes, pegging him as the 48th richest person in India. The value of his listed holdings amounts to nearly Rs 30,000 crore at current prices.

According to sources, the trustee, Radhakishan Damani, will have the final say in the main publicly listed investments of Jhunjhunwala.

Jhunjhunwala’s biggest stakes include his storied investment in Titan (10,946 crore), Star Health (Rs 7,056 crore), Metro Brands (Rs 3,166 crore), Tata Motors (Rs 1,707 crore) and Crisil (Rs 1,308 crore). Besides, Jhunjhunwala has also clearly outlined his capital commitment towards Akasa Airline, the aviation company he founded along with Vinay Dube and Aditya Ghosh putting to rest any trepidation on the future of the airline, sources said.

A legendary stock market trader turned entrepreneur, Radhakishan Damani got into the big league with his retail company Avenue Supermart which runs the D Mart chain of stores. His networth including his holdings in Avenue totalled to more than Rs 1,80,000 crore in June 2022.

Jhunjhunwala is among the most sensational success stories in India’s equity markets, growing his meagre Rs 5,000 in 1986 to over $5 billion in 2022, a compounded annual growth of 55 percent over 36 years.