Shanghvi's Silent 'Sun' Rise

The man who once overtook Mukesh Ambani as the richest Indian — for a brief period in 2015 — started his business way back in 1983 with ₹10,000 borrowed from his father. He launched Sun Pharmaceutical Industries with a two employees and five psychiatry products in Calcutta. It is now India's largest pharmaceutical company by market cap.

Among the most low-profile pharma leaders in India, Dilip Shanghvi has had a terrific run. One of his major milestones being the 2014 acquisition of Ranbaxy for $4 billion from Japan's Daiichi Sankyo, that catapulted Sun Pharma to the world's fifth-largest specialty generics major. The portfolio had been built over years. In 2007, Sun bought a controlling stake in Israel-based Taro Pharmaceuticals for $454 million, and in 2016, acquired Novartis' branded drug portfolio in Japan for $293 million.

The company, which went public in 1994, reported revenues of ₹38,426 crore in FY22, a 15% growth compared to the previous fiscal. Reported net profit rose 13% to ₹3,273 crore, boosting Shanghvi's wealth to ₹1,19,462 crore (as on August 16, 2022).

He has had his share of peaks and troughs as well, especially with several of its manufacturing plants coming under increased scrutiny of the US FDA for violation of good manufacturing practices. India is now Sun's largest market.

Shanghvi's unlocked wealth also resides in investments such as Sun Pharma Advanced Research company, a listed company that works in the pharma research and clinical development space, Sun Petrochemicals Pvt. Ltd., Sun Pharma Drugs Pvt. Ltd. and Sun Pharma Medication, among others. Sun Pharma Drugs and Sun Pharma Medication merged with Sun Pharma Industries Ltd.'s wholly owned subsidiary, Sun Pharma Laboratories Ltd. in 2013. AIRA Matrix, a company set up and funded by Shanghvi's family office, provides AI-based solutions for life sciences applications, and has developed deep learning-based products and services to help pharma firms expedite the discovery and development of drug molecules.