HE was known in India as 'The Big B'. Aditya Vikram Birla, one of the most powerful tycoons on the sub-continent, was not a big man, but he came from a big family, had big ambitions and ultimately ruled over a business empire that covered most of Southeast Asia. It was a deserved epithet.
He died last Sunday at the age of 52 in charge of a corporate behemoth. Total assets topped US$3 billion, two-thirds of which were concentrated in his homeland while the rest was invested in most of Asia's emerging tigers.
As the head of Birla group, he ran a multibillion-dollar industrial empire of 10 blue-chip companies with interests in textiles, petrochemicals, aluminium, fertilisers and oil refineries. Annual sales exceeded $2.5 billion.
He was also chairman of overseas joint ventures in Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Egypt, and he was the first Indian billionaire to be listed in Forbes list of the top 500 richest international businessmen.
He had many advantages in his rise, the foremost being his name.
The Birla group has been controlled by the Birla family for three generations. His grandfather, Ghanshyam Das Birla, was called 'prince among patriots' by Mahatma Gandhi and the family has capitalised on a combination of business acumen, supreme wealth, immaculate political connections and almost reverential status among India's business elite to become one of the region's most powerful dynasties.