Gautam Vijaypat Singhania (born 9 September 1965) is an Indian industrialist. He is the chairman and managing director of the

Raymond Group Raymond Group is an Indian branded fabric and fashion retailer, incorporated in 1925. It produces suiting fabric, with a capacity of producing 31 million meters of wool and wool-blended fabrics. The group owns apparel brands like Raymond, Ra ...

, the world's largest producer of suiting fabric.

Biography

Gautam Singhania was born in an Marwari industrialist family, to Vijaypat Singhania and Ashabai Singhania. He is an alumnus of St. Mary's School, Mumbai and

Cathedral and John Connon School The Cathedral & John Connon School is a co-educational private school founded in 1860 and located in Fort, Mumbai, Maharashtra.H.R. College of Commerce and Economics, H.R. College in Churchgate, Mumbai Gautam Singhania joined the Singhania family's JK Group of companies in 1986. He later joined the family's

, becoming a director in 1990, the managing director in July 1999, and the chairman in September 2000. He restructured the group and sold Raymond's non-core businesses (synthetics, steel and cement). Under him, the group moved its focus to fabrics, apparel brands,

prophylactic Preventive healthcare, or prophylaxis, consists of measures taken for the purposes of disease prevention.Hugh R. Leavell and E. Gurney Clark as "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental hea ...

s (

KamaSutra condoms KamaSutra Condoms is India's second largest condom brand. It is manufactured by J.K. Ansell Ltd. (JKAL), which was a 50:50 joint venture between Raymond Group, India's largest fabric and branded apparel company, and Ansell Limited. It is now owned ...

), and men's toiletries. He has also focused on international partnerships for Raymond, including joint ventures with UCO Textiles of Belgium (denim) and Gruppo Zambaiti of Italy (shirting). In 2005, Singhania opened a nightclub named ''Poison'' in Bandra, with

DJ Aqeel DJ Aqeel (born Aqeel Ali) is an Indian DJ and composer. Biography Family Aqeel married Farah Khan Ali, who is the daughter of actor Sanjay Khan, and is the sister of the Bollywood actor Zayed Khan, in 1999. The couple have two children. Night ...

. As of 2012 Singhania's net worth is estimated to be around $1.4 Billion. Singhania is currently constructing a skyscraper ten stories taller than the

Antilia Antillia (or Antilia) is a phantom island that was reputed, during the 15th-century age of exploration, to lie in the Atlantic Ocean, far to the west of Portugal and Spain. The island also went by the name of Isle of Seven Cities (''Ilha das Set ...

constructed by Mukesh Ambani. The 30 story mansion, called JK House, will be a combination of a private residence and textile showroom.

Personal life

Gautam Singhania is married to Nawaz Modi Singhania, a Parsi. The couple has a daughter named Niharika (born 10th December 2005) He has suffered from

vitiligo Vitiligo is a disorder that causes the skin to lose its color. Specific causes are unknown but studies suggest a link to immune system changes. Signs and symptoms The only sign of vitiligo is the presence of pale patchy areas of depigmen ...

(loss of skin pigmentation) since a young age. Its progression accelerated when he was in his early 30s, as a side effect of medication. Gautam Singhania's father gave him 27% of the company as per family understanding. After taking over the company a few years later he turned it around and turned it into a huge success.

Hobbies

Gautam Singhania is passionate about fast cars, boats, planes and nightclubs. He has driven a Formula 1 car in France, a

Ferrari 360 Modena The Ferrari 360 (Type F131) is a two-seater, mid-engine, rear wheel drive sports car manufactured by Italian automotive manufacturer Ferrari from 1999 until 2005. It succeeded the Ferrari F355 and was replaced by the Ferrari F430 in 2004. Deve ...

in a road and track rally across Europe, and a

Lamborghini Gallardo The Lamborghini Gallardo (; ) is a sports car built by the Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini from 2003 to 2013. It is Lamborghini's second car released under parent company Audi, and best-selling model with 14,022 built throughout its ...

for Cannonball Run. He has also formed the first-ever Super Car Club in India. He owns a

Tesla Model X The Tesla Model X is a battery electric mid-size luxury crossover SUV produced by Tesla, Inc. since 2015. Developed from the full-sized sedan platform of the Tesla Model S, the vehicle is notable in that it uses falcon-wing doors for passe ...

that had been imported from the USA, at a time when Tesla cars were not available in India. He owns the only Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera in India, and a pre-2008 Gallardo which has been modified to have over 1,600 horsepower. He also owns a Ferrari 458 Challenge racing car. He also owns a lot of

drift Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** Drift, Cornwall, village ** Drift Reservoir, associated with the village ...

cars, including an S15 Silvia, a 240SX, an E46 M3, a WRX STI, and a Lancer Evo VI. He also does drag racing in a heavily modified R33 Skyline GT-R with over 1,000 horsepower. He is very passionate about cars and has won many races in his sports cars. Singhania owns ''M Y Ashena'', a tri-deck luxury yacht constructed entirely out of Burma

Teak Teak (''Tectona grandis'') is a tropical hardwood tree species in the family Lamiaceae. It is a large, deciduous tree that occurs in mixed hardwood forests. ''Tectona grandis'' has small, fragrant white flowers arranged in dense clusters ( pan ...

wood. The yacht was designed by traditional boat builders from a village in

Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...

. The Ashena was later used by

Liz Hurley Elizabeth Jane Hurley (born 10 June 1965) is an English actress and model. As an actress, her best-known film roles have been as Vanessa Kensington in '' Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery'' (1997) and as the Devil in '' Bedazzled'' ( ...

for her wedding. He also owns the luxury yacht ''Moonraker'', which later sunk due to leaks caused by external damage However nobody aboard was harmed., launched 2014, his second of that name after the Moonraker launched 1992, as well as a traditional three-masted Arabian sailing

dhow Dhow ( ar, داو, translit=dāwa; mr, script=Latn, dāw) is the generic name of a number of traditional sailing vessels with one or more masts with settee or sometimes lateen sails, used in the Red Sea and Indian Ocean region. Typically spo ...

''Shazma'', four speedboats named after the

James Bond movies James Bond is a fictional character created by British novelist Ian Fleming in 1953. A British secret agent working for MI6 under the codename 007, Bond has been portrayed on film in twenty-seven productions by actors Sean Connery, David Niv ...

''Octopussy'', ''Goldfinger'', ''Thunderball'', ''Golden Eye'', and some other speedboats called ''Smokin Joe'' and ''Raymond''. Singhania also owns a

Bombardier Challenger 604 The Bombardier Challenger 600 series is a family of business jets developed by Canadair after a Bill Lear concept, and then produced from 1986 by its new owner, Bombardier Aerospace. At the end of 1975, Canadair began funding the developmen ...

business jet (VT-NGS) and three helicopters.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singhania, Gautam Businesspeople from Mumbai 1965 births Living people Indian billionaires Indian businesspeople in textiles People with vitiligo