logo
Meet Indian billionaire, owned two floors in Burj Khalifa, had Rs 18000 crore net worth, was forced to sell Rs 124000 crore company for just Rs 74 due to…

Meet Indian billionaire, owned two floors in Burj Khalifa, had Rs 18000 crore net worth, was forced to sell Rs 124000 crore company for just Rs 74 due to…

India.com25-05-2025
BR Shetty went bankrupt after a damning 2019 report by short-seller Muddy Waters Research exposed accused him of financial fraud. (File)
The heartbreaking story of of BR Shetty, an Indian-origin businessman, who once owned several companies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), had net worth of over Rs 12,000, and lived a life of prime luxury– is a profound example of how quickly one's fortunes can turn to ash due to one critical mistake, and send any person tumbling into the depths of obscurity. Who is BR Shetty?
Born in a lower middle-income home in Udupi, Madras Presidency, then British India (now Karnataka, India), on August 1, 1942, Bavaguthu Raghuram Shetty, or BR Shetty as he is popularly known, was once among the wealthiest people on the planet, ranking on the Forbes list of India's 100 Richest People in 2015, and the 42nd richest person in 2019.
BR Shetty began his career as a medical representative, and at age of 31, immigrated to Dubai, UAE in 1973 in search of better opportunities. Reports claim that Shetty came to Dubai with just $8 to his name, and worked as a door-to-door salesman, selling medicines.
However, in short period, BR Shetty developed contacts with some wealthy and influential people, and a few years later, established the New Medical Center Health (NMC), UAE's first private healthcare provider company, in Dubai. UAE's first private healthcare provider
The hospital was managed by BR Shetty's wife, Chandrakumari Shetty, who was the only doctor in the clinic, at the time. Today, NMC is the largest private healthcare provider in the UAE with over four million patients annually across 45 facilities spread over 12 cities and 8 countries, including UAE, KSA, Oman, Spain, Italy, Denmark, Colombia, and Brazil.
NMC is also the first healthcare company from the Gulf Cooperation Countries (GCC) and the first company from Abu Dhabi to be listed on the premium segment of the London Stock Exchange and was part of the coveted FTSE 100 Index. However, the firm was de-listed from London Stock Exchange and removed from FTSE 100 index, following a request from its board of directors, and due to the on-going investigation of alleged financial irregularities.
Apart from NMC, BR Shetty also founded the UAE Exchange, a company dealing in remittance, foreign exchange, and bill payment services. During the late 70s, Shetty observed that Indian expatriates living in UAE faced difficulties in sending money to their families back home in India, and thus landed upon the idea to establish the UAE Exchange, which in 2016, opened 800 offices in 31 countries.
In 2003, BR Shetty founded NMC Neopharma, a UAE-based pharmaceutical manufacturer, which was inaugurated by the then President of India, A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in Abu Dhabi. BR Shetty – From riches to rags
Over the years, BR Shetty's wealth ballooned thanks to owing to his diversified and successful business ventures which ranged from health, finance, to real estate, and capital investment. At one point, BR Shetty had a net worth of $3 billion (around Rs 20,000 crore), making him one of the wealthiest men globally.
The Indian-born business tycoon lived a life of opulence, owned private jets and a fleet of Rolls Royce vehicles, and even bought two entire floors in the lavish Burj Khalifa, besides several luxurious villas across Dubai.
However, fate took a cruel turn when in 2019, US-based short-seller Muddy Waters Research levelled damning allegations against BR Shetty's companies. In a post on X (former Twitter), the short-seller posted a report revealing that Shetty's firm owed a $1 billion debt which was kept secret from the company's investors. What did the short-seller's report claim?
In its report, Muddy Waters Research alleged that Shetty had hid the debt from his investors and defrauded them by exaggerating cash flow figures. Following the allegations, the shares of Shetty's companies went into freefall, ultimately forcing him sell his Rs 12,478 crore company to the Israel-UAE consortium for just Rs 74.
In 2020, amid investigations, BR Shetty resigned from his board position, and on April 8 that year, NMC Health went into Administration in the United Kingdom due to concerns over corporate governance and a share price in freefall.
In the same month, Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank filed a criminal complaint against NMC Health with the UAE Attorney General's Office, and days later, the Central Bank of UAE ordered the freezing of Shetty's bank accounts and the blacklisting of his firms. The embattled businessman is also under investigation in India, with agencies initiating a probe to identify potential risks to Indian banks.
According to reports, Shetty's current net worth is a minute fraction of his earlier $3.5 billion fortune, consequently leading Forbes to drop him from its annual list of billionaires in 2020.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Digital wallet payments must flow beyond borders: PayPal CEO Alex Chriss
Digital wallet payments must flow beyond borders: PayPal CEO Alex Chriss

Time of India

time15 minutes ago

  • Time of India

Digital wallet payments must flow beyond borders: PayPal CEO Alex Chriss

Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Countries like India have made rapid progress in digitising cash and expanding their digital wallet ecosystems , but the real growth in global commerce will come only when these country-specific systems become interoperable, said PayPal chief executive Alex Chriss 'The challenge is that these wallets are very native to a specific geography. They work great locally, but if you travel or want to send money across borders to someone using a different wallet, there really is no mechanism available,' Chriss said in an exclusive video interview with ET from the financial technology company's headquarters in San Jose, India's importance in PayPal's global strategy, Chriss said the company is focused on cross-border payments and wants to leverage the scale of Unified Payments Interface (UPI) to expand access for Indian consumers.'The Indian market is incredibly important to us. We need to play where we can be strong — (cross-border payments). This partnership allows us to work with the strongest payment network in India and enable consumers here to make purchases around the world,' he spoke about PayPal World, a new platform that integrates five major wallets globally: India's UPI, China's TenPay Global, Mexico's Mercado Pago and US-based PayPal and Venmo. This tie-up allows Indian UPI users to shop from international merchants and pay using their UPI app, removing the friction typically associated with cross-border payments. Indian travellers abroad will also be able to use PayPal World for QR code-based and peer-to-peer payments using their local bank service works the other way as well. Foreign travellers visiting India will be able to use their native wallets once enabled on PayPal World for transactions here.'It's important to show commitment from some of the largest wallets, which is why we started with these five, bringing nearly two billion consumers into the ecosystem,' Chriss said. 'The interest is very strong from others, and we'll onboard as many wallets as we can in the coming months.'Chriss took over as PayPal CEO in September 2023, following the retirement of long-time chief Dan Schulman. Previously, he led the small-business division at business software firm exited India's domestic payments business in 2021, but continued to operate in the cross-border segment. In May 2025, it received in-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to operate as a cross-border payments aggregator. While it is a global leader in this space, PayPal competes in India with the international arms of homegrown firms like Razorpay and partnering with NPCI International Payments Ltd, the global business unit of National Payments Corporation of India that manages UPI, Chriss said PayPal is aiming to unlock cross-border commerce for Indian merchants and consumers through UPI.'The future of payments is cross-border, and it must be interoperable across domestic wallets. Walled gardens don't deliver real customer benefit,' he told also acknowledged the impact of cryptocurrencies on the global payment infrastructure. Instant payment systems globally now operate under the shadow of crypto, which offers borderless, real-time transactions that often bypass local monetary regulations.'I'm a big proponent of the future of crypto for instant payments. But the biggest issue is still interoperability. If wallets can't work together, the transaction simply can't happen,' he also spoke about the growing complexity of operating across multiple regulatory jurisdictions. 'Yeah, look, if I'm a consumer and I just want to buy something, I don't really care about the global politics of it all. I just want to find the right merchant. And at the end of the day, I think that's what we're going to enable,' he commerce is increasingly at risk of becoming collateral damage amid the ongoing US-triggered tariff war and geopolitical with a market cap of $74 billion, competes with tech giants like Apple Pay, Google Pay and an expanding network of Zelle-powered banking apps. While PayPal remains a global market leader in online checkout and peer-to-peer payments through PayPal and Venmo, competition has intensified across the fintech world. It also faces strong competition from fintech major Stripe, which works with online merchants where PayPal operates its enterprise-focused the quarter ended March 31, PayPal processed payment volume of $417 billion and posted revenue of $7.7 billion. Cross-border volumes stood at around $50 billion, driven largely by intra-European corridors.

India's economy shows resilience amid global tariff challenges, macroeconomic risks
India's economy shows resilience amid global tariff challenges, macroeconomic risks

Economic Times

time15 minutes ago

  • Economic Times

India's economy shows resilience amid global tariff challenges, macroeconomic risks

Mumbai: Macroeconomic risks might remain underpriced even as tariff levels near the 1930s highs, central bank economists said, while noting that India's domestic economy is sufficiently resilient to withstand the challenges posed by an in-transition global economic order. ADVERTISEMENT "Underpricing of macroeconomic risks by financial markets remains a concern. The average trade tariff rates are set to touch levels unseen since the 1930s. Moreover, the risk of imposition of new high tariffs looms large for additional sectors," Reserve Bank of India (RBI) economists said in the latest monthly bulletin. Despite these global headwinds, India's economy shows resilience, undergirded by strong fundamentals, easing inflation, favorable monsoons, and proactive fiscal measures, said the authors in the 'State of the Economy' report. Inflation has eased in India, where policymakers have lowered policy rates cumulatively by a full percentage point since February. While credit offtake has so far been rather circumspect, most economists expect greater demand for loans in the second half of the economy."Despite global uncertainties, the Indian economy remains largely resilient, supported by strong macroeconomic fundamentals," they said. "Easing inflation, improving kharif season prospects, front-loading of government expenditure, targeted fiscal measures and congenial financial conditions for faster transmission of rate reductions should support aggregate demand in the economy, going forward."Their views, however, do not necessarily reflect those of the central bank. Early onset and timely progress of the southwest monsoons have helped boost kharif sowing to 708 lakh hectares (as on July 18, 2025), up 4.1% compared to the corresponding period of last year. ADVERTISEMENT India's services sector sustained its strong growth momentum in June, with PMI services recording the highest expansion in 10 months. But the available high-frequency indicators for June point to modest industrial activity, the report noted. Inflation seems to be under control. Headline inflation declined to 2.1% (year-on-year) June 2025-the lowest since January 2019-from 2.8% in May. Core inflation inched up higher to 4.4 % in June 2025 from 4.2% in May. On regional distribution, both rural and urban inflation eased further to 1.7% and 2.6%, respectively, in June, with a greater fall witnessed in rural inflation. ADVERTISEMENT Even as net FDI-a stable source of foreign exchange-was very low, inflows through other sources such as external commercial borrowings and NRI deposits and slower dollar demand from importers made up for the slowdown. (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel)

Modi in London today: Landmark India-UK trade deal, key meeting with King Charles – check PM's full itinerary here
Modi in London today: Landmark India-UK trade deal, key meeting with King Charles – check PM's full itinerary here

Mint

time15 minutes ago

  • Mint

Modi in London today: Landmark India-UK trade deal, key meeting with King Charles – check PM's full itinerary here

Prime Minister Narendra Modi kicked off his two-day visit to the UK on Wednesday (local time) to expand bilateral ties in defence, trade, and technology. The formalisation of the landmark India-UK free trade deal is set to be a major outcome of his trip. PM Modi will hold wide-ranging talks with his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, today. The talks are expected to focus on imparting new momentum in the strategic ties between the two countries. Starmer is set to host Modi for the talks at Chequers, the official country residence of the British prime minister that is located 50 km northwest of London. People familiar with the matter were quoted as saying to news agency PTI that Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal and his British counterpart Jonathan Reynolds will likely sign the FTA in the presence of the two prime ministers on Thursday. In May, India and the UK sealed the free trade agreement, which is expected to benefit 99 per cent of Indian exports from tariffs. The agreement will also make it easier for British firms to export whisky, cars, and other products to India, boosting the overall trade basket. The trade deal, firmed up after three years of negotiations, is expected to ensure comprehensive market access for Indian goods across all sectors. According to officials, India will gain from tariff elimination on about 99 per cent of tariff lines (product categories) covering almost 100 per cent of the trade values. In his departure statement, Modi said India and UK share a comprehensive strategic partnership that has witnessed significant progress in recent years. "Our collaboration spans a wide range of sectors, including trade, investment, technology, innovation, defence, education, research, sustainability, health and people-to-people ties," he said. The India-UK bilateral trade crossed USD 55 billion in 2023-24. The UK is the sixth largest investor in India, with a cumulative investment of USD 36 billion. India's investments in the UK are close to USD 20 billion, and some 1,000 Indian companies operating in Britain provide employment to almost 100,000 people. Upon landing in London, PM Modi thanked the Indian diaspora in the United Kingdom for their warm welcome, describing their enthusiasm and dedication to India's development as "truly heartening." "Touched by the warm welcome from the Indian community in the UK. Their affection and passion towards India's progress is truly heartening," the PM said on X. PM Modi's foreign trip comes in the middle of Monsoon Session of Parliament that began on July 21. The visit to the UK is at the invitation of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, the Ministry of External Affairs said earlier this week. Besides holding wide-ranging talks with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Modi will also meet King Charles III today. From London, Modi will travel to the Maldives at the invitation of President Mohamed Muizzu in what is being seen as a breakthrough in the ties between the two countries following a spell of frostiness under Muizzu. -2.30 PM to 5.30 PM (IST) Bilateral Meeting with PM Starmer. -6.30 PM (IST)- Press Briefing by Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri. -9 PM (IST): Meeting with Charles III, King of the UK. Touched by the warm welcome from the Indian community in the UK. Their affection and passion towards India's progress is truly heartening.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store