Raamdeo Agrawal

Some Lesser Known Facts About Raamdeo Agrawal

• Raamdeo Agrawal is an Indian businessman, Chartered Accountant, stock market investor, and the Co-founder and Chairman of Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited (MOFSL).

• Raamdeo Agrawal was born into a middle-class Marwari family, and his ancestors hail from Rajasthan. ^[3]Amazon

• In 1987, Agrawal started his career as a sub-broker on the Bombay Stock Exchange, where people would crowd inside a hall and shout orders under the open outcry system.

• He caught the bug for investing in shares when his brother Sukhdeo handed over his supplement income of Rs 4-5 lakhs to Raamdeo to buy shares. Apparently, Raamdeo had suggested Sukhdeo to invest in the stock market instead of putting the money in a savings account. While developing a portfolio using his brother’s capital, Agrawal learnt about the stock exchange market.

• In 1995, Agrawal invested around Rs 10 lakh to buy the shares of Hero MotoCorp (then Hero Honda), which were then priced at Rs 30 apiece. He held on to them for the next 20 years, till the share price rose to Rs 2,600 apiece and then sold out them in 2015. The investment is considered one of Agrawal’s most epic stakes which were annually earning him Rs 3-4 crore in dividend income alone until he sold them out in 2015.

• In 1987, Raamdeo Agrawal and Motilal Oswal founded Motilal Oswal Group a small stock sub-broking firm.

  

• The sub-brokers built a portfolio of only 10-15 lakh by 1990 and then used all their earnings to buy the membership of BSE.

• The business prospered during the time of the Harshad Mehta Bull Run during which they made Rs 30 crore in 20 months by investing Rs 15 lakhs.

• Eventually, Motilal Oswal Financial Services Limited (MOFSL) started offering a well-diversified financial services firm offering a range of products and services in securities, commodities, investment banking, asset management and venture capital.

• In the financial year 2015-16, the MOFSL earned revenues of Rs 1,055 crore and a net profit of Rs 163.32 crore and by 2017, Agrawal was holding 36% of Motilal Oswal worth $900 million.

  

• As Chairman of MOAMC, one of the fastest-growing Asset Management Companies in India, Agrawal created the “QGLP” (Quality Growth Longevity & favourable Price) Investment Process and its ‘Buy Right, Sit Tight’ investing philosophy. He is also the driving force behind the MOFSL Groups’ highly awarded research. He has been authoring the annual Motilal Oswal Wealth Creation Study since its inception in 1996.

• Apart from being an Associate of Institute of Chartered Accountant of India, Agrawal is also a member of the National Committee on Capital Markets of the Confederation of Indian Industry.

• He was featured on ‘Wizards of Dalal Street on CNBC TV 18’.

• In 1986, he wrote the book Corporate Numbers Game, along with co-author Ram K Piparia. Besides that, he has authored the books The Art of Wealth Creation and Wealth Creation Thoughts.
  

• He considers Warren Buffett as his mentor and says that his investment strategy is largely inspired by him. Agrawal has been attending the annual general meetings of Berkshire Hathaway, an American multinational conglomerate holding company founded by Warren Buffett, since 1995. He fanatically read Buffett’s annual letters to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders.

  

• A voracious reader, he learnt about investing via the books like Common Stocks and Uncommon Profits by Philip Fisher, Value Migration by Adrian Slywotzky, Understanding Michael Porter by Joan Magretta, and Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham.

• Agrawal once revealed that he learnt about the power of compounding from Chandrakant Sampat, who is informally recognised as India’s first value investor.

• Interestingly, Agrawal and Oswal lived in the same hostel in Mumbai while studying accountancy, but the two befriended each other much later.

• In 2005, Raamdeo Agrawal’s son, Vaibhav, was kidnapped from his hostel in Kota, where he was preparing for his Indian Institute of Technology entrance exam. On investigation, it was discovered that he was kidnapped by Rahul Tyagi and his compliance Sanjeev Sharma. The kidnappers tricked Vaibhav into believing that they had been sent by his uncle, who was a doctor in Pondicherry. They requested Vaibhav to come along with them to Bansal Institute for coaching. Thereafter, Vaibhav was drugged with a drink laced with sedatives following which they drove him to Delhi, then Dehra Dun, and then Kahtuli before he was finally rescued from Ghaziabad. Although the kidnappers demanded a ransom of Rs 10 crore, the family agreed to pay Rs 3 crore only for Vaibhav’s safe release. The UP, Delhi and Rajasthan police rescued Vaibhav after a 15-day-long joint operation after they arrested Jai Kumar alias Bittu, the 22-year-old driver of the kidnappers. Jai Kumar was trying to flee after collecting the ransom of Rs 3 crore when the police arrested him. ^[4]Rediff Reportedly, Vaibhav’s ex-girlfriend Amisha Agarwal had tipped off Tyagi about Vaibhav. Amisha and Vaibhav had known each other since their college days at Muzaffarnagar’s DAV College. Later, she married Paresh Vaishya, one of India’s richest MNC executives. Paresh and Amisha lived in the Samudra Mahal building in Worli, Mumbai, where Raamdeo Agrawal also lived. ^[5]The Times of India

• In 2021, Agarwal, his wife Sunita, and son Vaibhav, jointly bought a sea-facing luxury duplex apartment at Samudra Mahal in Mumbai’s posh neighbourhood of Worli for Rs 46.29 crore. ^[6]The Economic Times