Once ubiquitously known as the King of Good Times, Vijay Mallya’s life nowadays is more that of an exiled royal. Make no mistake, he’s still no pauper, with a cosy allowance of over Rs 16 lakh a week while living in London. But the glory days are long gone, and only a shadow now lingers. Just in case you forgot the kind of lavish spending and the antics he was known for, here’s a reminder.
1. At his 50th birthday bash, he had Lionel Richie perform at his luxurious villa in Goa.
2. For his 60th birthday, he called Enrique Iglesias to the same venue. This, while employees of Kingfisher Airlines protested for their delayed payment.
3. He bankrolled the first Formula 1 team in India – one of the most expensive fields to get into. He apparently paid €90 million.
4. He owned a fleet of luxurious cars (at one time totalling 150) including a Porsche Boxter, a Rolls Royce 204, a Ferrari, a Maserati, and more.
5. He paid Rs 1.5 crore to buy Tipu Sultan’s sword, which had been taken by the British. He later apparently gave it away as it brought him ‘bad luck’.
6. At the time of buying, Mallya’s Goa mansion, known as Kingfisher Villa, was worth Rs 90 crore.
7. He owned a fleet of private jets including a Boeing 727, a Gulfstream, and a Hawker 700.
8. He paid $6 million for the 25,000 acre Mabula Game Lodge in Johannesburg that has 47 rooms and was home to many exotic animals and birds.
9. Mallya paid $61 million for a luxurious property on the Island of Sainte-Marquerite in France called Le Grand Jardin or The Grand Garden.
10. He even owned a 400 acre horse farm that was exclusively used for breeding horses for racing. It is called the Kunigal Stud Farm in Karnataka.
11. He owned one of the largest private yachts in the world, bought for $93 million. It was equipped with its own helipad. He also owned another yacht worth $3 million.
How the mighty fall.