Baba Ramdev To Lala Ramdev
Journey of a penniless yoga student to a billionaire industrialist
Ben Crair of Bloomberg profiled Baba Ramdev’s intriguing journey to stardom and billionaire club.
Some highlights:
Fastest ever growth for an FMCG business:
- From 2012 to 2018 Patanjali grew more than ten times.
- From INR 700 crores to 10,000 crores.
- Ramdev’s co-founder is India’s 19th richest man, worth INR 40,000 crores.
What is its business?
- Ayurvedic hospital & medicines
- A yoga school
- FMCG
- Research lab
How good are its products?
- Noodles had 3 times ash content than legal level.
- Indian army stopped selling its juice.
- Nepal recalled six of its goods.
- They were charged with misleading customers with ads.
- More here: Link
Will it beat Indian majors like HUL?
Ramdev often says:
The ‘gate’ in Colgate will shut.
Pantene will wet its pants.
The lever of Unilever will break down.
The little Nestlé bird will fly away.
My take:
- Such fast growth only happens in Ponzi schemes.
- However, Patanjali did hire industry experts to streamline its business.
- Still, there are doubts.
Indepth profile: Bloomberg ( First few clicks free)
Go deeper: Book On Ramdev
Book: Godman to tycoon, The untold story of Baba Ramdev
Author: Priyanka Pathak-Narain
What is it about?
Glimpses of his past life, which people do not know.
- Sold chawanprash on a bicycle.
- Taugh yoga to small groups in 1990.
- How he bought his way to his celebrity status
- He dissed his mentor and guru.
Who should read this book?
Those who want to learn the alternative route to success.
- Understand how religion, politics and money are always winners.
- How to trick the system?
- Never give up.
Bonus: Priyanka’s interview by The Wire