Anil Agarwal, founder and chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited Executive, recently took a trip down memory lane, reminiscing about the time he acquired his first ever company. In his later Twitter post, Agarwal shared the story of how he acquired his first ever company – Shamsher Sterling Cable Company all the way back in 1976.
Born 1954, and hailing from Patna, Agarwal already had entrepreneurship running through his blood as his father was a small businessman. After graduating from Miller Highschool, a fresh-faced Mr. Agarwal, packed his bags and landed in the economic capital of India – Mumbai.
Agarwal explained that as soon as he heard that the company was going bankrupt, he planned to purchase it. With no money, financial knowledge or any tech know how, he started the long process of purchasing a dying company. As, he researched and gathered information about the entire process and legality, he realised that it would cost him Rs. 16 lakhs for the down payment. He spent almost all of his waking hours plotting a plan to get him that Rs. 16 lakh that he so desperately needed.
“My biggest help came from two individuals who have now passed away. Nitin Kantawala, a top lawyer in Gagrat and Company, and Dinkar Pai, a manager at Syndicate Bank, both assisted me in research, auction, and court approvals,” Agarwal wrote on his Twitter post.
Mr. Agarwal even shared some pearls of his wisdom by saying that if you have dreams and work hard for it, the universe will find a way to help you out. He ended up collecting the required Rs. 16 lakhs from various sources. He was able to save Rs. 6 lakhs by himself, borrowed Rs. 5 lakhs from a few family members and another Rs. 5 lakhs from a metal broker he knew named Rasik Bhai.
Anil Agarwal riding high on emotions signed the papers in May 1976 that would officially transfer the ownership of Shamsher Sterling Cable Company to his hands. This day, pinpointed not only by him but by everyone around him turned out to be the turning point of Mr. Agarwal’s life.
Agarwal’s fascination of ailing companies did not stop as he went on to purchase other companies going through a bankruptcy like Madras Aluminium and Bharat Aluminium Company. Unsurprisingly, he turned their fortunes around too. In 2003, Sterling went through a change, renaming it Vedanta which garnered the honour of being the first publicly listed Indian company on the London Stock Exchange.
Now worth at $3.6 billion USD, Mr. Agarwal is a true testament to a rags to riches story. For someone with no formal college education or industry training, it’s safe to say that he has made a good life with his talents and is a massive inspiration for Indians of every age.
