Getting to know the Big Bull

Brut India

"He's always been the eternal bull." From his controversial image to his larger than life personality, journalist Aabha Bakaya got candid about the Big Bull.

Transcript

00:00This larger-than-life character who was known to be foul-mouthed,

00:05you know, spitting tobacco, and, you know, never knew what to expect from him.

00:10I mean, the markets will never forget a Rakesh Ranjanwala.

00:18I met Rakesh Ranjanwala back in 2009. I had moved to Mumbai and I went to

00:27interview him for a Diwali show. And I had been told by all my colleagues,

00:32you know, with great trepidation of what to expect from this larger-than-life character

00:37who was known to be foul-mouthed, you know, spitting tobacco,

00:42and, you know, never knew what to expect from him.

00:49He's always been the eternal bull. He was actually confident that we're at the cusp

00:54of an all-together, what he called, a super bull run. Not just a bull run,

00:59he said the bull run of bull runs is coming in the next decade.

01:03So that's Rakesh Ranjanwala for you. His expression, you know, once he goes into the zone

01:07where he's, you know, doing his work and it's all about the markets and tracking those stocks,

01:13it completely changes. So you catch him in a moment and he'll wax eloquent to you.

01:17But after that, you know, the switch goes off and it's like, don't disturb him.

01:21That's how he was. He is likened to the, you know, to be India's Warren Buffet,

01:26you know, someone of that stature in terms of what he's built.

01:33The last few years, I also got a chance to see him in an environment, you know,

01:38with his family and loved ones. And I know that he was a really big figure,

01:42you know, in their lives. And he really, for him, they were always the utmost priority.

01:51The twins were important because Rakesh and Rekha tried for many years. And so, you know,

02:15he considered that a lucky blessing. And it was something that came to him much later in life.

02:21And that's why the twins are very, very important to him.

02:27We do refer to him as RJ. We always called him that. Even if I would

02:30message him, I would sometimes say sir, but otherwise I'd say RJ.

02:35You know, it was probably just very in the early days that I attempted Mr. Jhunjhunwala.

02:43And he always used to say, le fatafat, de fatafat, you know, he was very adept at trading,

02:50but he also was an investor in some companies when they were first starting out. And,

02:55and he really, you know, sort of was invested in their longer term journey

03:00and built a lot of wealth through that as well. In fact, he's known for coming to the stock

03:05markets with 5000 rupees. And it was that bet in Tata Tea that actually catapulted him into

03:12the big league back in the day. And he was known for always being able to pick those stocks. Of

03:17course, he went wrong sometimes as well as anybody would. He was really confident about

03:22the India story. And in that respect, the fact that banks and PSU banks would be a critical

03:29part of that. He had his succession all planned out, which is why you've seen the markets

03:33completely on even keel even after his passing. He's known for his quips, right, for his witty

03:42one liners, and a lot of them are about women and markets. And, and so a few people did come

03:48up to me afterwards saying that, oh, my God, you know, how did you deal with this? It's so sexist,

03:52but I don't think he ever meant it in that capacity. He actually was just being funny.

04:05Two things that are unpredictable in life, markets and women. If you wanted to take offence,

04:09you could. But if you knew him, you knew that that was in jest, and he would never have meant

04:15any disrespect. In the entire time that I've known him, he's never been one to be politically biased.

04:26But I think he was, you know, he did laud this government's efforts. And I guess that was his

04:37political views. He did feel that this government was doing something right. And I think that,

04:46you know, we got to also understand that Rakesh Anjumwala wasn't just anybody, right? He is

04:51somebody with considerable influence. And I think that it was a little, I mean, in my personal

04:58opinion, I think it was a little unfair to have judged him for this when he is somebody who

05:05is entitled to have to be meeting the powers that be given the considerable

05:11influence that he has on India's stock markets, the kind of wealth he's generated for the country,

05:17the fact that he's one of the topmost taxpayers, as he, you know, very clearly told me in one of

05:24our recent conversations. Yeah, so I think we need to just see it in perspective. A regular man

05:30who went out there and really built an empire with nothing. Here's somebody who really literally

05:36went out there with a loan of like 5000 rupees, okay, and left with $5 billion.

05:41The markets will never forget Rakesh Anjumwala.

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