Meet India’s Warren Buffett, The Low profile Investor Turned Overnight Billionaire

In the wake of Avenue Supermarkets, operators of D-Mart stores, listing at a valuation of over $6 billion (almost Rs 40,000 crore), its main promoter, Radhakishan Damani- often referred to as Mr White & White (for his all-white attire) and The Silent Operator (for his reclusive nature)-found himself worth more than such long-time Indian billionaires as Anil Ambani, Ajay Piramal, Rahul Bajaj and Anil Agarwal. Recently Forbes had calculated the Damani family’s net worth at $2.3 billion, Damani family’s 82% stake in D-Mart alone is worth Rs32,871.75 crore, or $5.03 billion. Its stake in other listed entities is worth another Rs3,000 crore, besides a property portfolio that includes the 156-room Radisson Blu Resort in Alibag.
Journey from Shop Owner to Billionaire
Radhakishan Damani is the founder of supermarket retail chain D-mart which has more than 117 stores  in India. Besides he once was a  renowned personality in the world of stock market . Mr. Damani is popularily known as Mr. White because you will always find him wearing the white attire.

His Early Life Struggle

Mr. Damani wasn’t born rich but had a family who dealt with Stock Market.After his father died he had to shut down his small ball bearing business and began working in his stock broking firm.

Stock broking business was an entirely new thing for Mr. Damani . So, he started keenly observing  how the things taken care of. After spending some time observing the functioning of stock broking business he jumped into the business and never look back.

He was really influenced by Chandrakant Sampat who was the ace investor in the business. Damani was a man of patience and believed in the self formulation of strategy. These two qualities made him the prominent players in Dalal street , Mumbai. By early 90s he had made enough fortune for himself. Damani also came into limelight when he took over Harshad Mehta , renowned Dalal street giant and that earned him the name among the legends in the fraternity of stock market investors.

D-Mart Inception

After spending years and earning great name in stock market  he decided to quit and setup his own venture .So, he laid the foundation of D-mart which was operated by Damani’s Avenue Supermarts Limited (ASL) . D-mart was basically a supermarket retail chain where household products can be purchased at much reasonable rates. D-mart proved to be the successful supermarket retail chain now worth Rs $6 billion.

Currently, D-mart operates in  in 117 different locations across Gujarat, Maharashtra ,Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,  Karnataka, NCR, Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Damani is currently worth $5.4 billion which, according to Forbes list, place him among the top 15 Indian billionaires in the world .

Down to Earth Man

Even after being so rich and successful, Damani never attracted towards the spotlight and fame. He is still a down to earth human being who is the source of inspiration to all the aspiring people.