Thomas BabychanIndia suffered a huge loss on August 14th, on the eve of Independence Day, as stock trader and investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passed away at 6:30 in the morning from an acute multi-organ failure.
He was rushed to Beach Candy Hospital in Mumbai city during the early hours of August 14th due to feeling uneasiness in health.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala who was a visionary and leader in the Indian stock market strongly believed in the potential of capital markets and investments in India.
After finishing graduation and enrolling as a chartered accountant by profession, Jhunjhunwala went on to become a stock trader on Dalal Street.
From a meagre first-time investment of 5000 rupees in 1985, the king of the Indian stock market made crores of rupees in profits and build a humongous portfolio worth nearly 32000 crores.
According to financial reports, the net worth of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala grew from 8,366 crores to 32,000 crores in the last 26 quarters.
Let us look at the top 5 most profitable stocks which helped Rakesh Jhunjhunwala climb up the ladder as a successful investor and business magnate.
1. Titan Company Limited
This stock from the Tata Group of companies helped Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to be a very strong contender in the Indian stock market as he purchased shares of Titan Company Limited when it was facing one of the huge crises in its history.
During the 2002-03 period, Titan Company Limited was facing an acute crisis in the market as the emergence of the internet heavily impacted the sales and financial prospects of the company.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who analysed the future of the company in the Indian consumer market, placed a risky bet by purchasing shares in large amounts at a rate of around 3 rupees per share.
The best was a success and the share price of the company slowly started rising and is currently standing at 2,472.60 per share.
With a 5.10% stake in the company, his shareholding value currently stands at 11086 crores.
2. Tata Tea
This stock was one of the earliest investments of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. In 1986, he bought shares of Tata Tea at a rate of 143 per share which soon started giving him huge profits within months and years.
While investing in the stock, he believed that the market opportunities of the stock were highly underappreciated and that the benefits which can be derived from rising yield in tea production were huge.
As expected the stock went up to high levels of 2200 rupees per share when Rakesh Jhunjhunwala decided to sell shares and exit the holding position.
3. Crisil
On the analysis that the financial service sector in the Indian economy would substantially grow in future, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and his wife jointly started investing in Crisil, a credit rating agency, in 2003.
From 2003-05, both of them bought a nearly 8% stake in the credit rating company in various transactions. The stock which was around 25-80 per share then, is currently trading at 3,252 rupees.
His stake in Crisil is now worth more than Rs 1,300 crore.
4. Nazara Technologies
The online gaming industry was beginning to tap the capital markets in the Indian economy when Rakesh Jhunjhunwala decided to acquire a minority stake in Nazara Technologies.
Nazara Technologies which was a private gaming company in 2017, saw an ace investor, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, take a minority shareholding in the company.
As if everything was predicted, the impact of COVID 19 in 2020 led to a sharp increase in demand for games hence the gaming market is attractive for huge investments.
Nazara Technologies which went public in 2021 at 834 per share went on to touch the 1500 mark in October 2021.
5. Metro Brands
Predictions and analysis of Rakesh Jhunjhunwala were once again proved right when he decided to invest in the footwear brand, Metro Brands, in 2007.
He and his wife jointly bought shares in Metro Brands. Following his purchase of a stake in the company, the footwear business in India shot up due to changes in customer demands and an increase in pre-capital income.
A huge boost in demand for premium products also helped the stock to perform very much higher than expected.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala currently owns 3,91,53,600 shares in Metro Brands which is worth more than 3300 crore Indian rupees.