Srichand Parmanand Hinduja (28 November 1935 – 17 May 2023) was an Indian-born British billionaire businessman. He was the primary shareholder and chairman of Hinduja Group of companies, together with his brother Gopichand.

S. P. Hinduja
Born
Srichand Parmanand Hinduja

(1935-11-28)28 November 1935
Karachi, Sindh Province, British India
Died17 May 2023(2023-05-17) (aged 87)
London, England
Education
Known forChairman, Hinduja Group
Spouse
Madhu Hinduja
(died 2023)
Children3
FatherParmanand Hinduja
Relatives

Early life

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Srichand Parmanand Hinduja was born on 28 November 1935 in Karachi, Sindh province, British India. He was the second son of Parmanand Deepchand Hinduja and Jamuna Parmanand Hinduja.[1][2] He was educated at Davar's College of Commerce and R. D. National College, both in Mumbai.[2]

Business career

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Hinduja began his career in his father's textile and trading businesses in Bombay, India, and Tehran, Iran.[3] His successful businesses in his early career included the sale of food commodities (onions and potatoes) and iron ore from India to Iran.[4]

With the acquisition of Ashok Leyland (from British Leyland) and Gulf Oil (from Chevron) in the 1980s and the establishment of banks in Switzerland and India in the 1990s, Hinduja became one of India's best-known business tycoons alongside such names as Tata, Birla, and Ambani.[5] In 2012, the Group acquired the US firm Houghton International, the world's largest metal fluids manufacturer, for $1.045 billion, forming a consortium with the help of Ghouse Mohammed Asif, (Director of Private Equity of JP Morgan) and Henry Paulson, former United States Secretary of the Treasury and formerly of Goldman Sachs.[6]

Hinduja's business approach was conservative and opportunistic, investing in diversified business sectors ranging from oil and gas, banking and finance, and IT to real estate, energy and chemicals, power, and media and entertainment.[7][8]

Wealth

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From the 1990s, he was consistently ranked among the UK and Asia's wealthiest people. The October 2013 issue of Forbes Life estimated the Hinduja home in London's Carlton House Terrace down the Mall from Buckingham Palace to be worth $500 million, making it the third most expensive private home in the world.[9][10]

As of March 2019, Forbes ranked SP and GP Hinduja as the 65th richest in the world, with a net worth of $16.9 billion, with Forbes India estimating his net worth at $18 billion. This made him the 4th wealthiest Indian-origin business magnate in the world.[11][12]

In 2022, Hinduja was the UK's wealthiest person, with an estimated wealth of £28.5 billion according to the Sunday Times Rich List.[13][14] Based on the rich list compiled by Asian Media & Marketing Group, Hinduja's wealth is estimated at £25.2 billion (US$31.7 billion).[15]

Personal life

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Hinduja at the 6th Asian Congress of Neurological Surgeons, organised by the Hinduja Hospital

Alongside his younger brothers Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok, Hinduja are known as the patriarch of India's "fab four".[16]

Hinduja was married to Madhu Srichand Hinduja, and they had two daughters.[16][2] Hinduja is a Sindhi Hindu.[17]

A daughter, Vinoo Srichand Hinduja, is on the board of management for the P. D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre in Mumbai.[18][19]

On 19 May 1992, Dharam Hinduja, his youngest son,[20] died a few days after receiving 70% burns from self-immolation in a hotel room in Mauritius, as part of a suicide pact with his wife, who survived. He had secretly married Ninotchka Sargon, a Roman Catholic Australian, at Chelsea Register Office in January that year.[21][22]

In 2001, Hinduja was involved in the UK's "cash-for-passports" scandal, where he donated money for the Millennium Dome while applying for British citizenship, leading to the resignation of Peter Mandelson.[23][24][25][26]

Hinduja was teetotal and a strict vegetarian.[27][28] He was known to bring his own vegetarian food to the Queen's banquets at Buckingham Palace.[29]

His wife, Madhu, died in January 2023.[30] Hinduja died of complications of Lewy body dementia in London, on 17 May 2023, at age 87.[31][32][33][34]

References

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  1. ^ "SP's USP: Family First, Biz Later". The Times of India. 12 February 2011. Archived from the original on 3 January 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  2. ^ a b c Europa Publications (2003). The International Who's Who 2004. Psychology Press. p. 733. ISBN 978-1-85743-217-6. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  3. ^ "The world is their bazaar". Pranaygupte.com. 28 December 1987. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 21 August 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. ^ Cragg, Claudia (1996). The New Maharajahs: The Commercial Princes of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh – Claudia Cragg – Google Books. Claudia Cragg. ISBN 9780712677615. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Hinduja to launch $500-mn infra fund". Business-standard.com. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  6. ^ James Crabtree (7 November 2012). "Hindujas' Gulf Oil agrees $1bn US deal". Financial Times. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  7. ^ "Hinduja group forms power sector JV with Germany's STEAG – The Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 28 March 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  8. ^ "Hindujas to foray into India's real estate sector". The Asian Age. 22 July 2012. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Carlton House Terrace: The Hindujas' New $500 Million Real Estate Masterpiece". Forbes. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  10. ^ "Villa Leopolda, Villefranche-sur-mer, France – In Photos: The World's Most Expensive Billionaire Homes". Forbes. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  11. ^ "India's 100 Richest People List". Forbes. 1 January 1970. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Forbes profile: Hinduja family". Forbes. Retrieved 28 June 2021.
  13. ^ "The Rich List". The Sunday Times. Archived from the original on 31 December 2010. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  14. ^ "The Sunday Times Rich List 2022". hetimes.co.uk. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  15. ^ Andrew Bounds (22 March 2013). "Mittal loses top spot in rich list". Business & Economy. The Financial Times Ltd. Archived from the original on 4 March 2023. Retrieved 20 June 2015.
  16. ^ a b "SP's USP: Family First, Biz Later – The Times of India". Timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 12 February 2011. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  17. ^ Palijo, Waseem (8 January 2019). "Most billionaires in India today once resided in Pakistan's Sindh". Daily Times. Archived from the original on 7 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  18. ^ "Live To Give Hope". Hindujahospital.com. 1 November 1932. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  19. ^ "Newsletter". Hinduja Group. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  20. ^ Hopkins, Nick (8 April 1999). "Meet the Hindujas". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  21. ^ "Millionaire's son died in a suicide pact with wife". The Independent. 22 October 1992. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  22. ^ Rahman, M; Roy, Amit (15 June 1992). "Hinduja heir Dharam fails to cope with family pressures against his wife, ends life". India Today. Retrieved 22 May 2016.
  23. ^ "Hindujas' British passports affair". rediff.com. 25 February 2001. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  24. ^ "UK minister quits over Hinduja scandal". CNN.com. 25 January 2001. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  25. ^ "Mandelson resigns over passport deception". The Guardian. 1 February 2001. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  26. ^ Miller, Hugo; Browning, Jonathan (23 November 2021). "Billionaire Family Feud Puts a Century-Old Business Empire in Jeopardy". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 28 November 2021.
  27. ^ Harding, Luke (24 January 2001). "Big brother's family values as the Boss". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
  28. ^ Lamb, Christina; West, Julian (28 January 2001). "The teetotal Hinduja brothers, who partied their way to power". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 February 2016. Retrieved 6 September 2024.
  29. ^ Hinduja, Srichand (8 February 2009). "What we are witnessing is the trailer to the real movie". Calcutta, India: Telegraphindia.com. Archived from the original on 3 February 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  30. ^ "Wife of SP Hinduja dies in London". 6 January 2023.
  31. ^ "Hinduja Group chairman SP Hinduja dies in London at 87". The Economic Times. 17 May 2023.
  32. ^ "Hinduja Group chairman SP Hinduja passes away in London at 87". Business Today. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  33. ^ "SP Hinduja obituary". The Times. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  34. ^ "Indian-origin UK billionaire SP Hinduja dead at 87". 17 May 2023.