What 'Big Bull' Rakesh Jhunjhunwala learnt from ace investors RK Damani and Nemish Shah

“I never repay my gratitude for the impact they have had. These are two individuals I respect from the bottom of my heart.” This is what the late investing legend Rakesh Jhunjhunwala had said about ace investors RK Damani and Nemish Shah, whom he considered two great professional influences.

Jhunjhunwala was introduced to Damani in 1985 on the lane adjoining the Bombay Stock Exchange building, where brokers and market participants would gather after trading hours to chat about their trades for the day.

“I have had a lot of people influencing me in life, but nobody influenced me the way Mr Damani has. When we were introduced, I had no office…but we instantly stuck a friendship because I always wanted a listener and he always wanted to listen to somebody he thought makes sense,” Jhunjhunwala had said in an interview with CNBC-TV18.

The market maestro’s considers patient listening to be Damani’s biggest quality. Jhunjhunwala considers this quality to be the basis for their connection. While recalling a past incident, he stated that “I was bullish on Tata Power but nobody would listen to me. But when I told him (Damani) about this, he just listened to me”.

While talking about his experiences with Damani, he said he wished he had his “wisdom”. Jhunjhunwala believed that he got a majority of his knowledge on trading by learning from Damani. “I don’t think there is even one investor like him who does not have an analyst. Everything is done by him on broad thinking – buy equity, don’t put money on interest. These are things that cannot be taught but have to be learnt,” he had said.

Jhunjhunwala believed that he not only learnt the finer points of investing from Damani, but also realised the importance of virtues such as humility and respect of one’s parents.

“After my father I have learned the most from him,” Jhunjhunwala added.

Jhunjhunwala could not define the relationship between his mentor and himself and highlighted that it had always remained unchanged. “When I met him, he was an extremely rich man, and I was not this wealthy. However even after the wealth status that I have presently, the relationship has never changed,” Jhunjhunwala had said.

While speaking about learnings from Nemish Shah, Jhunjhunwala said that as a person who believed in numbers, Shah had taught him the importance of basic research on data. While both are extremely competitive as professionals, Jhunjhunwala had described both Shah and Damani as extremely humble and helpful.