When brand building ultimately led to the collapse of ‘bad’ billionaires of India

Recently, Netflix launched a documentary series Bad Boy Billionaires, focusing on the lives of Indian billionaires Vijay Mallaya (former chairman of Kingfisher), Nirav Modi (head of Firestar Diamond International), and Subrata Roy Sahara (former chairman of Sahara Group).

There was a striking similarity amongst these bad boys – their quest to build a global brand for themselves took precedence over the financial rationality of their businesses, ultimately leading to the collapse of their business empire. A little reading of other troubled companies reveals a similar archetype for their bosses. Be it Rana Kapoor of Yes Bank or Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways.

In this process, they all sold a dream to the different classes of the Indian society – Subrata Roy Sahara to the poorest through its chit fund; Vijay Mallaya to the middle class of a luxury air travel at a low cost; and Nirav Modi to the rich of world-class diamond jewelry.

Kingfisher was envisioned as a low-cost carrier, but it soon turned out to be Mallaya’s way of selling ‘Kingfisher’ way of life, providing all the bells and whistles unheard of in a low-cost carrier. Kingfisher became a brand associated with lavishness and luxury. Nirav Modi’s vision was to create a global diamond jewelry brand competing against the Bulgaris and Tiffanys of the west.

In the pursuit of brand building, the financials took a back seat. The aura of their bosses trying to personify themselves as a global icon had taken over. When the pursuit had set in, what was right didn’t matter but hunt to be on the top mattered – the top that was never absolute. The process involved all the malicious ways of getting loans, money laundering, etc. to keep their businesses afloat. But one day the business goes belly up, leading to the collapse of their brand, vision, and everything else.

The state has ultimately taken the brunt of the collapse of all these business empires. In what could have been globally recognized business firms have dwindled in ashes. All this due to the laxity of their bosses trying to build a brand for themselves and not a financially sound organization.

Do the love for business, the brand, and vision completely blind the bosses of their company’s own financials? Its just numbers, right? Maybe the emotions and charisma blind everything. And there may be a few more that might get added to the list in the future. Don’t go too far, it’s an Indian mining company which is currently trying to delist itself.

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