Drinks magnate, Formula 1 boss, and owner of his own Airline, Dr Vijay Mallya is one of the world's richest and most successful entrepreneurs The man they call "The King of Good Times" shows DAMON SYSON around his (rumoured) Euro 43 million island home, and explains why being a party animal is good for business
Drinks magnate, Formula 1 boss, and owner of his own Airline, Dr Vijay Mallya is one of the world's richest and most successful entrepreneurs The man they call "The King of Good Times" shows DAMON SYSON around his (rumoured) Euro 43 million island home, and explains why being a party animal is good for business
It's a balmy evening in the baie de Cannes and on the island of Sainte-Marguerite the party is already in full swing. Two hundred guests are expected tonight, ferried from the mainland in two speedboats and a cruiser.u00a0
There is only one residential home on this, the largest of the four islands of Lerins, and it's here we're headed.
Snaking through the wooded nature reserves in a luxury people carrier, we pull up next to a 17th Century stone wall, originally built on the orders of Cardinal Richelieu. Then, passing through an archway, we make our way on foot along a path flanked by soaring palms and tropical gardens, before arriving at the pool area. 
Here, the scene looks truly enchanted, with marquees, floating candles, statues festooned with tropical flowers and three cocktail bars. As we arrive, a kilted master of ceremonies is busy knocking the tops off champagne magnums with a sabre.
Dr Vijay Mallya, drinks magnate, airline owner, Formula 1 boss, and legendary bon viveur, is holding court by the marble balustrade, surveying this historical estate which he purchased last year for a rumoured Euro 43 million.
In the flesh, the man they call "The Branson of Bangalore" and "The King of Good Times" is instantly recognisable. His mane of grey hair has been tamed but he still wears the trademark diamond solitaire earrings and a well-trimmed goatee.
The most surprising thing, given the fact that he's one of the wealthiest men on the planet (Forbes magazine ranked him 962nd last year with a net worth of $1.2 billion) is that Mallya appears to have no visible security and circulates freely amongst the guests, chatting with anyone he encounters.
Then again, socialising is Mallya's raison d'u00eatre. He is a legendary host with a reputation for throwing some of the most lavish parties at the Monaco Grand Prix, (which is of course the spiritual home of the lavish party).
He's also a notable collector of art, cars, watches and other valuable items. In March this year, he made headlines by successfully bidding for some of Mahatma Gandhi's personal belongings at a New York auction at a cost of US$1.8 million.
Tonight, as with most aspects of Mallya's life, business is never far away. "We firmly believe in entertainment being a critical part of our marketing and brand enhancement strategy. So whether it's my yacht or any one of my homes, entertainment and networking are an integral part of the way we do business," he explains.
The aim of tonight's festivities is ostensibly to promote Whyte and Mackay, the venerable Scotch whisky distillers he bought in 2007 for a princely sum of US$1.2 billion, (and which he still owns 100 per cent of, in spite of rumours that the company was up for sale).u00a0
Our interview is scheduled to happen at the party, but Mallya is having such a good time it's hard to drag him away. Finally, with everyone else dancing to wild Scottish music, courtesy a bearded band who resemble extras from Braveheart, I'm led to a quieter area of the property where Mallya is sitting on a small terrace under a canopy of 50-foot high palms.
"One of the reasons I bought this property is because it's so private, so tranquil," he says, lighting a cafe cru00e8me cigarillo. "At the end of the day when I need to switch off, recharge my batteries... well, here it is."
Even for a man who owns 41 other prime properties around the world, Le Grand Jardin is a spectacular setting for a party. The walled property is made up of a large formal garden and three buildings: the Governor's House, the House of Metayers and The Tower. The whole estate was built between the 12th and 17th centuries and spent over a decade on the market waiting for a suitable buyer.u00a0
Competition to purchase the property was fierce, from Russian Oligarchs and celebrities such as Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Nice Matin (newspaper based in Nice, France) suggested that Mallya was victorious thanks to his special relationship with the French government and the fact that his airline, Kingfisher, is a major Airbus customer.
He's clearly keen to install himself as an integral member of the Cote d'Azur's glittering community.
Although he spends more time in the air than on terra firma, and is rarely in one country for more than a few days, Mallya is fiercely proud of his Indian roots. He's a member of the US India business council, and has served for six years in the Indian Parliament, and yet his three children were all born and bred in the US and hold US passports.
'I owe a lot to my country'
Has Mallya himself ever thought of applying for US citizenship? "With the number of visas I've had to accumulate in my passport over the years," he nods, "People have said to me, 'Why the hell don't you just get yourself a US passport and be done with it?' I'm also a permanent resident in the UK I'm granted indefinite leave, but I haven't taken a British passport either. I've stuck with my Indian passport because I have a certain element of patriotism in me. I am what I am because my country gave me the foundation and the base to grow this business and provided me with the resources to expand overseas. So I owe a lot to my country."
'I was branded a playboy'
Now 53, Vijay Mallya became chairman of the UB Group in 1983, at the age of 27. Vijay Mallya had just arrived in New York (on October 13, 1983), when he heard that his father had dropped dead of a heart attack with a glass of champagne in his hand, aged 59. The media were quick to put the new chairman under the microscope, many doubting he had what it took to take on the huge responsibility left to him. "I was branded a playboy," he says. "But what 27-year-old doesn't like fast cars, discos and planes?"
Mallya's masterstroke was realising that far from having to curtail his activities, appearing to be a playboy was a cunning way of pushing his brand. Like Richard Branson, he became his brand's walking advertisement, rather than having to hand over large sums of money to a David Beckham or a Lewis Hamilton.
"Other brands hire brand ambassadors," he explains. "Brands hire alternative mediums to promote their brands. I am my own brand ambassador. And there's nothing wrong with that. Richard Branson does a fabulous job of being the brand ambassador for Virgin. Companies pay multi-million dollars for famous Bollywood stars to endorse their brands. For me it's free. I endorse the brand. And I get as much press as any other Bollywood actor, and that's proven by scientific methodology and research."
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'I'm a 24x7 man'
But doesn't he find it rather exhausting being the face of an empire 24x7?
"Yes of course it's exhausting to have the media on your tail ALL the time. You like your privacy but the fact is you've got to do what you've got to do. I would never say 'I'm sick of this, I'm tired of this, I don't want media, let's hire another celebrity and pay a lot of money just because I don't want to be hassled.' I'm a 24x7 man and I give 24x7 to my business."
This has made Mallya extremely wealthy, allowing him to indulge his passion for sport. He sponsors the country's most successful football teams East Bengal and Mohun Bagan and is the country's second biggest racehorse owner/breeder.
'Sure I could fly my Airbus...'
His collection of classic cars numbering more than 250 is also the envy of the world. Called the Mallya Collection, it features half a dozen Ferraris, several Porsches, Rolls-Royces, including a Rolls-Royce garbage truck made for an Indian maharaja at the turn of the last century, a Formula 1 car, and an F5000 All American racing car.
"I have several hundred vintage cars and some exceptionally rare ones which I love driving but also love possessing," he tells me. "It's simple you have an option of putting your money in the bank and getting three or four per cent or investing it in what you enjoy, which appreciates at a rate far higher than three or four per cent and yet you also get enjoyment out of it."
Does he have much time to drive his classic cars? He sighs: "Today time is at such a premium that I may dream about driving my cars and stuff like that but I simply don't get the time to. And it isn't as if I can do it anywhere in the world because the majority of the pristine collection is in San Francisco."
The same applies to his love of flying. He owns four private jets and holds a full flying licence, but rarely gets to practice his skills. "Sure I could fly my Airbus. But at the end of the day am I going to? Tomorrow night I'm going to Brazil u2014 11 and a half hours non-stop from Nice. Will I fly the plane? Sure I can if I want to, but I'd rather relax and have a drink and sleep and wake up fresh the next morning."
Naturally with his love of cars and planes, boats are sure to follow. His stunning fleet includes the famed Kalizma, a 165-foot Edwardian yacht once owned by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and the Indian Empress, one of the largest private yachts in the world at 311 feet 8 inches.
'I enjoy collectibles'
And then there are the watches. Until seven years ago, when he sold it in auction through Sotheby's, Mallya had the world's largest collection of Rolex watches. "At the end of the day they were all lying in boxes," he sighs. "I'm the kind of guy who enjoys art, who enjoys cars. I enjoy collectibles. I love to possess something that's rare. But at the end of the day I realised that unless I am able to enjoy it there is no point knowing you have it. I have a vast collection of impressionist paintings Renoir, Chagall, Monet, whatever. But I enjoy looking at these paintings. I enjoy their presence. But my Rolex watch collection unfortunately I could not enjoy. It was stuck in a vault most of the time, so I sold it."
I ask him what he's wearing on his wrist today and he reveals a gem-encrusted chronograph, which he informs me is an Audemars Piguet one-off, made especially for him.
With the watches, the cars, the yachts, Mallya boasts all the trappings of the playboy life. But although he's happy to live his life out in the open, in the full glare of the world's media, the one area which remains shrouded is his family. Mallya's second wife, Rekha, spends most of her time in San Francisco, where she lives with their daughters Leana and Tanya. "She's a private person. She keeps out of the media spotlight," he explains.
Mallya's son Sidhartha, from his first marriage, studied at Queen Mary College in London, having been educated at Wellington College, and has now been inducted on the Board of United Breweries Holdings Limited (UBHL), though his father is adamant he will have to work his way up from the bottom before he gets the reins of any company of the UB Group.
What's next for Vijay Mallya?
So what does the future hold for him?
In 2007, Mallya made a significant investment in Epic Aircraft, a US-based aircraft manufacturing company specialising in high performance planes Very Light Jets (VLJs) a new breed of aircraft, which could revolutionise ownership of private jets.
On the ground, meanwhile, Mallya has been encountering a little turbulence of late. He is locked in an epic battle with Scotch Whisky Federation who are opposed to his exporting his Indian whiskies to Europe with the name "whisky" due to the fact that they are made from molasses rather than grain.
And although he talks about relishing a David and Goliath battle, he has certainly found himself punching well above his weight with his first forays into Formula 1. After many years of sponsoring teams such as Benetton, Mallya is the first Indian ever to become the owner of an F1 team, after he formed a consortium with the Netherlands-based Mol Family to become joint owners of Force India Formula One.
Although the team are still to score a point since entering Formula One at the start of last year, they have been improving steadily, and Mallya has publicly stated that his goal is to see his drivers regularly on the podium by 2011.u00a0
As to the suggestion that his forays into F1 were primarily intended to raise his global profile, he dismisses this with a wave of his hand. "Even before I bought the F1 team I had a deAcent enough international profile," he counters. "What with the airline and everything else I did. I don't really sit back and assess my status or whether or not I'm an international celebrity, but if F1 put me into the international limelight then so be it. It was not designed as such. It's not every day that a Formula 1 team that's a constructor becomes available for sale. It was an opportunity I had to take."
With all this going on the business battles, the playboy lifestyle, the lavish parties the big question is, how does Vijay Mallya ever get to relax?
He shrugs: "You know, I enjoy what I do. I enjoy my parties. This is not stress for me. I'm having a great time."
But does he ever have a chance to just kick back and do nothing?
"Of course. All of yesterday I just sat here under the trees and enjoyed myself, did exactly what I wanted, read a few papers, did some emails, read the papers, flirted with a book and just had a chilled-out day. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow too!"
And with this he sits back and his face breaks into a very large grin.
Interview concluded, we rejoin the party, which culminates not long afterwards with a 20,000 euro fireworks display.
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