B. Ravi Pillai was born on 2 September 1953, in Chavara, Kerala, India, and is an entrepreneur, best known to be the managing director and founder of the RP Group of Companies. He’s worked with some of the world’s biggest companies, and all of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Ravi Pillai? As of early-2017, sources estimate a net worth that is at $3.5 billion, mostly earned through the success of the RP Group of Companies. His companies encompass numerous industries such as construction and entertainment, and can be found in various parts of the world, and all of these achievements have ensured the position of his wealth.
Ravi Pillai Net Worth $3.5 billion
Pillai attended Baby John Memorial Government College, and after graduating went on to study at Cochin University, majoring in Business Administration, and during his time at the school would start his first business, which was a chit fund which is a way of saving money typically done in India. After this endeavor, he then started an engineering contract business, which would grow as he soon started working with major companies such as Cochin Refineries, Fertilisers and Chemicals, and Hindustan Newsprint Limited. However, his business would shut down after a labor strike.
In 1978, Ravi moved to Saudi Arabia and started a small trading business, operating for two years before moving to construction. He established the Nasser Al Hajri Corporation which started at around 150 employees, but it would grow at a tremendous rate and has increased his net worth significantly, and it has since become the flagship company of the RP Group. Pillai would acquire and create more companies to be part of the Group which now has a reported 70,000 employees across all of its businesses.
Another business part of the Group includes the South Kerala shopping mall, and the RP Mall located at Kollam city. Pillai also expanded his business to other countries such as Bahrain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. His companies now range from oil and gas industries, cement, construction, steel, to hospitality. The Group has stakes in various hotels including Hotel Raviz, Kollam, WelcomHotel Raviz Kadavu, and Leela Kovalam. He’s also involved in healthcare, creating the Upasana Hospital and Research Centre in Kollam.
Thanks to all of his achievements, he was given an honorary doctorate degree by Excelsior College in New York, and was also awarded the Pravasi Bharatiya Samman or Overseas Indian Award by the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. In 2010, he was given the Padma Shri which is the fourth highest civilian award in India. Four years later, he was ranked as part of Forbes list of “The World’s Billionaires”, besides also being named the fourth most powerful Indian in the Middle East by Arabian Business.
For his personal life, it is known that Ravi married Smt. Geetha; they have two children and the family resides in Bahrain. His daughter was known to have held an expensive wedding, spanning four days and having around 60,000 guests.
