Lalit Modi: From riches to rags
He was listed among India’s thirty most powerful men in March in 2008 by the India Today magazine. We are talking of none other than Lalit Modi, who has been swirling in the middle of news headlines for past couple of years for his attachment with India’s cricket fraternity. He is brainchild of the Indian Premier League (IPL) who had laboured extremely hard to produce and nurture it. As soon as his novel idea transformed into a cricketing giant, Modi was axed from its setup and as experts confirm, it was probably done fo the good of India’s domestic cricket.
Lalit Modi was born on November 29, 1963 in India, in afamily which was not short in fame or money. His father Krishan Kumar Modi, owned a business empire worth Rs.40 billion which was established by his grandfather, Raj Bahadur Gujarmal Modi, who was also the founder of the city of Modinagar. He was initially a run-away child from the Bishop Cotton School in Shimla. But although he left school in an early age, he was able to perform well in the SAT Test. His performed helped Modi secure a place at the Duke University in Durham, United States.
Such was his success that he never looked back. Modi claimed to be at the top ladder amongst the highest tax payers of Indiafor the fiscal year 2009/10. Since his rocket-propelled success through the IPL, Modi paid Rs 8 corore in the first half of the 2010 as tax.
Lalit Kumar Modi who is renowned as a successful businessman and a famous Indian cricket administrator is best known for the magic that he created as the Chairman and Commissioner of the Indian Premier League. Later on, his ideas took another whirlwind turn when launched the Champions League between the years 2008 until 2010. Since 2005, he has also served as the Vice President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). Prior to this designation, Modi served as the Vice President of the Punjab Cricket Association as well. By inheritance, he became the President and Managing Director of Modi Enterprises and also worked in the capacity of Executive Director of Godfrey Phillips India since 1992.
Since 1993, Modi has been engaged with Walt Disney Pictures in a joint venture for the last 10-years. This association is called as the Modi Entertainment Networks (MEN). During his stay in America in 1994, Lalit Modi signed a five-year contract as a distributor for ESPN.
One of his interesting ventures is his lottery business in Kerala since 2002. His restless and money seeking nature took him to the real estate business in Rajasthan as well.
The man has always set his eyes to delve into the world of cricket along with the glitx and glamour of showbiz which is yet another lucrative market in India. He initially joined the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association in 1999. But in 2000, after he was thrown out of the HP Cricket Association, the man moved to the Rajasthan Cricket Association which was then run by the Rungta family for the last 40 years. He was elected as its first President which provided him a seat in the BCCI as well. Due his close ties with prominent political leaders, Modi became the Vice-President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. His brilliant business solutions helped increase BCCI’s revenues over seven times only in three years. Despite this, Union Minister C. P. Joshi defeated him in the Rajasthan Cricket Association elections. Currently, Modi is serving as the Vice-President of the Punjab Cricket Association.
What brought fame as well as defame to this rich man is his association with the Indian Premier League (IPL), a league based on T20 cricket.
The IPL has emerged as one of the world's leading sporting events worth over US$ 4 billion. A large part of the credit goes to Modi’s control and planning of the event.
However, after the recently concluded series in 2010, the tycoon was removed from his post on Monday owing to a financial scandal which also trapped some influential politicians from the country as well. The BCCI removed Lalit Modi right after the last match of the 2010 IPL series saying that he had brought a bad name to cricket administration of India.
The only three-year-old Indian Premier League (IPL), after its most lucrative series in 2010 is under severe scrutiny as questions are being asked by the tax collection authorities. It was during this time that Shashi Tharoor, Minister of State for External Affairs resigned due to the accusation of improper influence on the IPL.
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