Vijay Mallya net worth: How former RCB owner and Kingfisher kingpin saw his wealth rising from $750 million to…

Kingfisher Airlines owner Vijay Mallya, who once ran a business empire worth millions saw his net worth dwindling in the recent years. After taking up the role of United Breweries Group chairman at the age of 28, the liquor baron expanded into various sectors, including aviation, beverages, and real estate.

Known as the “King of Good Times," the journey of the successful businessman to a fugitive has been full of controversies. As per Forbes, his estimated net worth stood around $750 million in 2013. Meanwhile, Vijay Mallya's latest net worth report dates back to July 2022, when it was estimated to be around $1.2 billion, according to the Independent UK.

Vijay Mallya assets

Vijay Mallya reportedly owns a penthouse in New York's Trump Plaza, United States, which was purchased for $2.4 million in 2010. Besides this, he owns three luxury condos in the same building, according to IndiaToday. Two of these luxury condos were purchased jointly with his daughter. In addition to this, he owns the Le Grande Jardin estate in France which is located on the Island of Sainte-Marguerite, near Cannes.

In 2012, Kingfisher Airlines encountered extreme financial troubles due to mounting debts and financial issues. Vijay Mallya blamed the 2008 global financial crisis for triggering the financial ruin.

Embroiled in a long legal battle with lenders and the Indian authorities, Vijay Mallya recently revealed that he's willing to return to India provided he gets a fair trial. He flew to UK in 2016 after being accused in a bank loan default case of over ₹9,000 crore. In the following year, the Supreme Court found Vijay Mallya guilty in a case linked to the now-defunct Kingfisher Airlines.

He was found guilty of transferring $40m to his children and was sentenced to four months jail term. A fine of ₹2,000 (£21) for a 2017 contempt of court case accompanied the punishment. Indian government applied for his extradition in 2017, but the 69-year-old businessman continues to deny any wrongdoing and has been fighting extradition in the courts ever since.

To prove his innocence, Vijay Mallya in a recent podcast with Raj Shamani said, “You may call me a fugitive for not going to India post March, but I didn’t run away. I flew on a prescheduled visit. Fair enough, I didn’t return for reasons that I consider are valid… so if you want to call me a fugitive, go ahead. But where is the ‘chor’ (thief) coming from? Where is the ‘chori’ (theft)?”

Calling his stay in England “fully ligitimate,” he said, "A business failure is compared or is equivalent to a fraud.”