Son of legendary Late Vittal Mallya, a growth-king of his time, Dr Vijay Mallya is indeed India’s one of the most dynamic business icons. He is an epitome of grandeur, finesse, panache, grace and charm. A quintessential humane, Dr Mallya personifies the art of good presentation. He is undoubtedly one of the most articulate business leaders India has been privileged to have. A brilliant orator, Dr Mallya can be said to have the gift of the gab. Not in tune with popular belief though, Dr Mallya can speak for hours on the most serious subjects, be it on poverty alleviation or global warming, or for that matter, sustainable development measures for the 300 million Indians living below poverty line. Ever since Dr Mallya made his entry into business, he has been following his heart and uncovering new horizons. An extremely hard working corporate chieftain who sometimes works at a stretch for more than 18 hours, Vijay Mallya, liquor baron, a politician, an aficionado of sports and more - all rolled into one, had a vision to fly high in the open skies with great spirits and he has indeed achieved in great style what he aspired. He has set new benchmarks in the country’s aviation industry, and in fact has gone on to make Kingfisher a world-class carrier. Be it the safety and security parameters or be it the issues of punctuality or deft services, Kingfisher is largely unparalleled across the spectrum. Having recently picked up a substantial holding in Deccan Airways, and looking forward to make an add-on, Dr Mallya has made a quantum leap in the domain and is poised to topple the Jet-Sahara (now known as Jetlite) combine which only marginally is ahead of Kingfisher-Deccan market share. Dr Mallya is all set to fly out in the global skies in 2008.

Also a Member of Parliament, Dr Mallya took over the United Breweries group from his late father in 1983 and built it into world's one of the largest spirits company at a tender age of 28. Since then he has been going great guns and there has been no looking back. Business was in Vijay's blood. He was inducted on the board of Hoechst when he was just 18. Prior to being entrusted with the responsibilities of a classical Indian Corporate conglomerate, Vijay Mallya worked for the American Hoechst Corporation (now Aventis) in the USA and in the UK.

Immediately after assuming the mantle of the UB Group, Vijay Mallya initiated the process of defining a corporate structure with performance accountability, inducting professional managers and consolidating the unwieldy empire into individual operating divisions. Results flowed like anything and soon the UB group made its presence felt in international circuit. At the dawn of the new millennium, the Group emerged as one of the largest bottlers of liquor in the world. In addition, this division is one of only four in the world to have seven millionaire brands and at least five brands rated by Drinks International, UK to be amongst the ten fastest growing brands in the world in their respective categories.

The UB Group's Brewing Division has also assumed undisputed market leadership with a national market share of 34%. The flagship brand Kingfisher is now sold in 32 countries worldwide having received many accolades for its quality. He has rightly been nominated as a Global Leader for Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum. With a net worth of over $1.5 billion, he has been ranked 664th richest man in the world in the Forbes 2007 list of billionaires across the world. A keen sportsman, an ardent aviator and yachtsman of distinction, Mallya loves to do things in style. Whether it is cars, horses or high fashion, Mallya has earned the right to be called the 'King of good times'. After all, style and grace, is a privilege of a few, and Dr Mallya is a CLASS apart. But, all that is dwarfed by the otherwise lesser-known virtue of this legend. That is his untiring concern for the underprivileged in this country. “Lesser-known”, because, he believes in practicing compassion silently, no matter, that he prefers to live a life king-size.