Interview: Ajay Singh, Spicejet’s founder
In his recent interview to Mint he disclosed how he became a businessman from a policy guy.
In his recent interview to Mint he disclosed how he became a businessman from a policy guy.
First, a policy guy:
He worked for Delhi Transport Corporation to turn it around.
As OSD ( Officer on special duty) at Ministry of Information And Broadcasting he launched DD News and DD Sports.
He drafted national telecom policy and technology act.
He also helped in launching BSNL mobile telephony.
Second , a businessman:
Spicejet’s founder has turned around the fledgling airline.
In 2005 he had launched Spicejet. His stake was 20%, which came down to 5%.
In 2010 Kalanidhi Maran acquired the majority stake ( 37.7%). Ajay Singh had stepped down. He had a minority stake.
In 2015 he bought back the stake from Maran. Airline had incurred a loss of INR 687 crore. It also had debt of INR 1240 crore.
After Ajay became its CEO again, Spicejet had 14 consecutive quarters of profit till 2018.
Fun facts:
He is a textile engineer from IIT.
He is the mysterious majority owner (40%) of NDTV.
Maran sold his 58.5% stake in SpiceJet to Ajay Singh for INR 2.
Worth your time: