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Journalism of Courage
In today’s terms, Rs 5,000 might buy a dinner, a budget smartwatch, or simply remain idle in a savings account. But in 1985, that same amount could change your life.
And for a young Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, it did. He borrowed that amount from his brother while still studying to become a chartered accountant with a promise to return it.
He had grown up hearing his father talk about stocks. That curiosity stayed. And now, with Rs 5,000 and a few bold ideas, he took his first trade.
Over the next few years, he made lakhs. Over the next few decades, he made history. He invested in companies like Titan when nobody was looking. And then held them through crashes, until they made him one of the richest investors in India.
This is not just the story of a multibagger. It is the story of how a borrowed sum, mixed with courage, conviction, and no shortcuts, became a portfolio worth Rs 30,000 crore. And why that way of thinking still matters today, especially if you are trying to build wealth the right way.
In 1985, with Rs 5,000 in hand, Jhunjhunwala bought his first stock: Tata Tea. The price was around Rs 43. Within three months, it went up to Rs 143. He had more than tripled his money.
That one trade gave him two things: confidence that he could understand the market, and a taste of what was possible if he trusted his thinking. He reinvested the profits and began trading more actively.
Stocks like Sesa Goa and Tata Steel followed. By 1989, his capital had grown to around Rs 20-25 lakh. That was a huge sum for someone still in his twenties.
But even in those early years, he was not chasing random stocks. He was reading balance sheets, attending AGMs, and studying how companies made money. He was a trader, but one who respected business fundamentals.
For him, trading was a way to build capital so that he could eventually back strong businesses with confidence.
This early phase holds a simple but powerful lesson.
Do not wait for the perfect time to start. Begin with what you have. Even if you trade, spend time understanding how businesses work. Learn to trust your process more than anyone else’s opinion. Because in the long run, stock prices follow earnings, and earnings come from real companies, not inflated ones.
In the 1990s and early 2000s, Jhunjhunwala built capital through smart trading. But over time, it changed.
He realised that true wealth did not come from moving in and out of stocks. It came from owning good businesses and letting time do the heavy lifting.
He began focusing more on investing, that is, buying companies with strong earnings potential, good promoters, and a clear runway for growth.
One of his earliest long-term winners was Lupin, a pharmaceutical company. When most people were ignoring pharma, he spotted the global potential and entered early. Over the years, Lupin grew into one of India’s top drug makers, and his bet paid off many times over.
Another classic example is CRISIL, the credit ratings agency. When he bought into it, it was a business with little attention from the market players. But Jhunjhunwala understood its importance in India’s financial system. He held on as CRISIL expanded and eventually became a respected name in credit ratings. It was later acquired by S&P Global, giving him a strong exit as well.
Then came the biggest one: Titan.
Around 2002-2003, Titan was struggling. The watch business was slowing, the jewellery segment was still finding its feet, and very few analysts were optimistic.
But Jhunjhunwala believed that India’s rising middle class would want branded jewellery. He also trusted the Tata group’s reputation and the company’s ability to manage retail.
He bought Titan when the stock was trading around Rs 30. Over the next two decades, he kept adding to his position. By the time Titan crossed Rs 3,000, his holding was worth over Rs 10,000 crore. That one stock became the face of his portfolio and showed the power of conviction and patience.
He also backed companies like Escorts, a tractor and equipment manufacturer, long before the rural economy became a market theme, and Rallis India, a Tata Chemicals company that quietly built leadership in agriculture solutions.
Each of these decisions followed the same method. He looked at the core business, assessed the promoter’s intent, understood the industry, and then stayed invested, sometimes for 10, 15, or even 20 years.
This part of his journey teaches a simple but powerful idea: real wealth is built by sitting tight when you believe in a business (or industry thesis). You do not need hundreds of stocks. You need a few good ones and the patience to hold them when others panic.
Market crashes are where most investors freeze. Prices fall, portfolios bleed, and panic sets in.
But Jhunjhunwala saw these moments differently. For him, crashes were not the time to run. They were the time to think clearly.
In 2008, when the global financial crisis hit, Jhunjhunwala’s portfolio fell by over 30 per cent. Many of his biggest holdings, including Titan and CRISIL, dropped sharply. But he stayed put, and in some cases, he even bought more.
He often believed, “Bad times are good times for those who can survive them.” He believed that panic selling turns paper losses into permanent losses. As long as the business was sound, he would not touch the sell button.
In earlier years, too, such as the 1992 Harshad Mehta scam, the 2000 tech crash, or even the Covid pandemic in 2020, he watched the market fall, but did not allow fear to take over. Instead, he asked one question: Has the company changed, or just the stock price? If the business was still intact, he held on.
He was also clear about managing risk.
He never took leverage beyond what he could handle. He diversified just enough by holding 15-20 meaningful positions at a time. And he sized his bets based on conviction.
For example, Titan was once 35-40 per cent of his entire portfolio. That was more of a conviction backed by years of understanding.
And when things went wrong, he exited stocks that broke their thesis. He admitted mistakes publicly.
For most retail investors, this is the hardest part. When the screen turns red, it is easy to doubt everything. But Jhunjhunwala’s story shows that you do not win by reacting. You win by preparing in advance, staying honest about what you own, and knowing when to do nothing.
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala never claimed to know everything. But he was clear about what he wanted from a business.
His checklist was simple:
He looked for companies that could survive shocks, not just deliver quarterly surprises. He also avoided overly regulated or unpredictable spaces unless he had a deep conviction.
At the same time, he did not believe in perfect numbers. He was fine with a few risks as long as the core business was strong. He was not looking for clean balance sheets alone, but he was looking for companies that could grow steadily and reward shareholders.
But the biggest part of his filter was belief in India. Jhunjhunwala’s entire investing journey was built on one assumption: that India will grow. That its people will consume more, save more, invest more, and demand better products.
That belief shaped every decision he made. He was not investing for the next quarter. He was investing for the next decade. And he knew that if India moved forward, the companies riding that wave would multiply in value.
This kind of optimism is built on understanding. And for retail investors, it is one of the most useful filters: instead of chasing the best stock this week, ask yourself, what do I believe in for the next 10 years? What do I understand well enough to hold through ups and downs?
Jhunjhunwala answered that question clearly. And then he backed that answer with both money and patience.
Note: We have relied on data from the annual reports throughout this article. For forecasting, we have used our assumptions.
Parth Parikh has over a decade of experience in finance and research, and he currently heads the growth and content vertical at Finsire. He holds an FRM Charter along with an MBA in Finance from Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies.
Disclosure: The writer and his dependents do not hold the stocks discussed in this article.
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