Ravi Jaipuria (File photo)
The youngest of three brothers, Ravi Jaipuria studied and worked in North America before joining the family’s soft drink business in 1985.
Ravi Jaipuria, the owner of RJ Corp, has one of the most inspiring success stories in the world of business. The 68-year-old is also known as “India’s cola king”. With a real-time net worth of $9.2 billion, Ravi Jaipuria is ranked 218 on Forbes’ list of billionaires. In 2022, he was 21st on the list of Indian richest people.
The youngest of three brothers, Ravi Jaipuria studied and worked in North America before joining the family’s soft drink business in 1985. A family split in the business left Jaipuria with a Coca-Cola bottling plant. He switched over to working with Pepsi. Today, his company is PepsiCo’s biggest bottler in India. Jaipuria’s listed flagship, Varun Beverages, is one of Pepsi’s biggest bottlers outside the United States. According to Bloomberg, the firm listed revenue of $1.2 billion in 2021.
Jaipuria’s conglomerate RJ Corp is involved in several sectors from healthcare and education to fast food and beverages. RJ Corp also has a presence in Morocco, Sri Lanka, Zambia, Mozambique and Nepal.
The business tycoon cemented his hold over the beverages market in India when he bought his older brother’s lucrative Pepsico Delhi franchise for an undisclosed sum. His son Varun, after whom Varun Beverages is named, oversees the Nike franchise, which has 11 stores in India.
Jaipuria’s daughter Devyani runs Devyani International, which operates fast-food chains like KFC, Pizza Hut and Costa Coffee. The company got listed on the stock exchanges in 2021.
Ravi Jaipuria also holds minority stakes in listed budget hotel chain Lemon Tree and in healthcare firm Medanta.
Ravi Jaipuria is the recipient of several awards. He was given PepsiCo’s award for International Bottler of the Year in 1997. The industrialist was also acknowledged at the PHD Annual Awards for Excellence 2018, where he received the ‘Distinguished Entrepreneurship Award’.
Talking about RJ Corp subsidiary Varun Beverages, the company is expected to meet on May 2 to approve the fourth quarter earnings. The bottler is also mulling a stock split. Varun Beverages reported a surge in its consolidated net profit, earning Rs 81.52 crore for the quarter that ended December 31, 2022. The jump in profit was due to improved net realisations and net growth.
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