Friends, family pay last respects to Rakesh Jhunjhunwala after sudden death

A fleet of Mercedes and BMWs lined up at the 20-storey IL Palazzo in Malabar Hill on Sunday as acquaintances visited the residence of ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala to pay their last respects. He passed away on Sunday early morning in Mumbai. He was 62.

One of the richest men in the country, in one of his last public appearances -- at the launch of Akasa Air, the country's newest airline, which he co-founded with former Jet Airways CEO Vinay Dubey -- was seen sitting in a wheelchair.

"He was brought in dead at 6.45-7am, probably with a cardiac arrest. He had other medical complications such as heart disease, diabetes and he was on dialysis," physician and intensivist Dr Pratit Samdani of Breach Candy Hospital Trust, who was treating him, told Business Today. The investor had been seeking treatment for the last 15 years, he confirmed.

His final journey is scheduled to begin from his duplex residence on the 16-17th floor of the building, which is close to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde's Nandanvan bungalow, at 5.30 pm. He will be taken to the Banganga Crematorium in Malabar Hill.

Given the sobriquet 'Big Bull' of the stock markets after Harshad Mehta, Jhunjhunwala owned a portfolio of 32 stocks worth Rs 30,000 crore

He was also chairman of Hungama Media and Aptech, as well as a director of Viceroy Hotels, Concord Biotech, Provogue India, and Geojit Financial Services.

Born in a middle-class family on July 5, 1960, Jhunjhunwala first entered the stock market with just Rs 5,000 in 1985. He was in college at that time. In its latest estimate, Forbes pegged his net worth to be around $5.5 billion.

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