The 99th richest person in the world, Dilip Shantilal Shanghvi, born on 1st October 1955, is the founder and managing director of the pharmaceutical company Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd.
We all know him as the mastermind behind Sun Pharmaceutical, but in this article, we will talk about how he reached where he is today. So, let’s dive deep into Dilip Shanghavi’s success story and get to know him better.
Shanghavi was born in a small town called Amerli, situated in Gujarat, and later shifted to Kolkata. He completed his schooling at Ajmera High School and obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from the Bhawanipur Education Society College, which comes under Calcutta University.
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His father, Shantilal N. Shanghvi, had his own wholesale pharmaceutical drugs business in Kolkata, where the idea to form the biggest pharmaceutical company in India originated.
After he completed his studies, he wanted to start his own business. So, he took inspiration from his father, borrowed equipment from his friends, managed to obtain Rs. 10,000, and established Sun Pharmaceutical in 1982.
In the beginning, Dilip started his journey with only one employee. He started selling psychiatric drugs in Kolkata, using the network his father built for his business. Rather than focusing on generic medicines, like most players in the field then, he focused on psychiatry medicine, as there were fewer physiatrists, and they were easier to target and reach.
Dilip always had a talent and knack for turning around companies that were in distress. So, when his business started to take off, he acquired an American company called Caraco Pharma in 1997. The move was doubted by many as the company was undergoing heavy losses. However, due to the relentless work of Dilip, the company is now making money.
The same happened in 2007 when Sun Pharma acquired a company from Israel called Taro Pharma, which was also incurring heavy losses, and could not see any way out. Dilip also turned the fortune of that company, and now, they are also making money.
In January 2018, the government of India appointed Dilip Shanghvi to the 21-member central board committee of the Reserve Bank of India. He was appointed as the chairman of the IIT Bombay Board and became a Rhodes Scholar in 2017.
He also has a biography of his life written by journalist Soma Das, published by Penguin Random House in 2019. This book was nominated for that year’s Tata Literature Award (Best business book category).
Now that we know more about the professional life of Dilip Shanghvi, let’s also reflect upon his personal life. We have mentioned his father earlier in the article, so let’s meet the rest of his family. His mother’s name is Kumud Shanghvi. He is married to Vibha Shanghvi and has two kids, Aalok and Vidhi, who work at Sun Pharma.
Dilip is an avid reader with a special place in his life for books. Earlier in his days, he used to love reading comics, science books, and novels. However, since starting his own business, he has mainly focused on reading books related to management and business. He is also a movie buff and loves Bollywood cinema.
