Flavio Briatore and Vijay Mallya Compared and Contrasted

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As was noted earlier on QPR Report, it was suggested earlier today in The Mail that Indian billionaire Vijay Mallya was the latest to become involved with QPR: "Indian Formula One high roller joins Ecclestone and Briatore's party at Queens Park Rangers...Vijay Mallya, the Indian Kingfisher lager and airline mogul, paid into the QPR pot, according to insiders in his Force India F1 team...." Mail.

Nothing's been announced by the club or reported elsewhere, so remains to be see how accurate the Mail account is. By chance, this article in Tuesday's Metro focuses on Flavior Briatore and Vijay Mallya in a rather gossipy way!


Tuesday Metro.co.uk - Posted by Adam Hay-Nicholls
"Life in the Fast Lane - F! Inside Gossip" compares Flavior Briatore and Vijay Mallya

King of Bling
We're in Monaco, the playground of the rich and famous. But just who is Formula One's biggest spender? If a man is judged by the size of his assets, then Force India owner Dr Vijay Mallya and Renault boss Flavio Briatore are extraordinarily well endowed. But who has the most toys?

BUSINESS

VIJAY:
Industrialist Vijay’s empire is founded on alcohol, which is why he’s known as the King of Good Times in India. Vijay’s run the firm, which is responsible for Kingfisher beer, Whyte & Mackay whisky and Pinky vodka, since his father’s death in 1983 and now it’s the world’s third largest distiller and the biggest brewer in India.

Kingfisher Airlines is the largest carrier in India, making 218 flights a day. Vijay has plans to go global and in August this year will commence routes to the USA. He’s got five Airbus A380s on order. The fleet is currently at 39 but that’s set to jump to 164 Airbus planes by 2010.

The group also owns India’s second largest pharmaceutical company, Aventis Pharma, which makes prescription drugs and vaccines.

Vijay’s a burgeoning media baron, having bought a share in The Asian Age newspaper and taken over film magazine CineBlitz. And his love of cinema has seen him produce a couple of Bollywood movies – The Forest and the critically acclaimed Dance Like A Man.

BLING SCORE: 4/5
The drinks are always free for Vijay, and owning an airline has made him the Branson of Bangalore. There’s talk of a Bollywood F1 movie – will Vijay be at the helm? Just think how bling an Oscar would look on the mantelpiece.

FLAVIO:
It’s difficult to find greater nouveau riche sparkle than in Sardinia’s Porto Cervo where Flavio is treated as a deity, largely so the party set can get around the 45 Euro cover charge of his Billionaire nightclub. Once there, though, they can easily spend up to 12,000 Euros just on dinner. If you’re not beautiful you’re not getting in. And if you don’t pose for a photo with Flav’s fiancée you get chucked out, as Bruce Willis discovered.

There are plans to open a members-only sister club in London’s Pall Mall, but there have been some licensing headaches. This weekend the Billionaire club has touched down at Monte Carlo’s Fairmont Hotel. Entry is 100 Euros, and that entitles you to one drink.

In addition, Flavio owns the expansive Twiga Beach Club in Tuscany. Here, you’re presented with a cordless phone as you head to your sun lounger, so as you don’t need to catch a waiter’s eye to order a drink. He also owns an uber-luxurious spa hotel in Kenya, but we’ll come back to that later.

Then there’s Cipriani, an Italian restaurant in London’s Mayfair and a favourite of celebrity diners including Madonna who, according to tabloids, sometimes rows with her husband there.

Having sold high street threads for Benetton in the 1980s, Flavio has stepped up a gear and is now in the business of haute couture. Billionaire Couture fans include David Beckham and P Diddy, whose chosen Agnelli-style watch-cuff shirt is known as the ‘Cuff Daddy’.

Flavio also had a major stake in pharmaceuticals company Pierrel, a premier chemist for local anesthetics and industry research, but recently sold his shares. The company generated a 25.7 million Euro profit in 2007, a 90 percent year-on-year increase.

BLING SCORE: 4.5/5
By ditching the profitable but unglamorous pharmaceuticals division, Flav’s bling score goes up – now his entire portfolio is about living well and having a good time. A playboy in the boardroom as well as the bedroom. Not nearly as high-grossing as Vijay’s interests, though.

SPORTS

VIJAY:
The acquisition of Spyker F1 has been, to date, Vijay’s boldest move into sport. In addition, he’s passionate about the most traditional form of horsepower. He purchased his first race horse, Danish Lad, when he was 21 and subsequently purchased the historic Kunigal stud farm, the oldest in India. The company, United Racing and Bloodstock Breeders, have some of the best trainers, jockeys and animals in the world. Vijay is the only owner to win the Indian Derby more than four times.

The Bangalore Royal Challengers cricket team is named after one of UB’s liquor brands and was purchased by Vijay earlier this year for US$111.6 million.

And while, unlike Flavio, he doesn’t own a soccer team, he does get a greater choice of managers’ boxes given Kingfisher sponsor both East Bengal and Mohun Bagon. Both teams are from Calcutta and are fierce rivals. East Bengal’s homeground is the biggest stadium in Asia.

BLING SCORE: 5/5
How do you get more bling that owning an F1 team? You can’t. The only others in the private members club are Frank/Patrick and Dietrich/Gerhard. What’s more, his football teams give his business a major presence in India and if Force India is half as successful as United Racing they’ll be winners.

FLAVIO:
Briatore is now even bigger news in the back pages of British newspapers following his investment in Queens Park Rangers football club. He and Bernie Ecclestone masterminded a £14 million takeover, and then invited Lakshmi Mittal, the fourth richest person in the world, to climb into bed with them. With massive financial clout, many observers expect a spending spree on top name players and are already drawing comparisons to Chelsea FC, the playground of another billionaire.

Since Bernie and Flav took over last August the team has risen from the bottom of the Championship League to mid-table. The Premiership can’t be far away, and when that happens the club’s value will rise massively.

Makes you wonder where he finds the time to run the Renault team.

BLING SCORE: 3.5/5
Unlike Vijay, Flavio doesn’t own his F1 team – he’s merely a well-paid employee, but maintaining that position does his other brands no harm as they benefit from F1 association. Now that he’s sold his stake in GP2 his biggest personal investment is QPR, and his goal is to reach the heights of Abramovich.

HOMES

VIJAY:
Estimates put Vijay’s total property tally at up to 42 homes. These include his main bases in Sausalito near San Francisco, and London, pads in Monte Carlo, Singapore, South Africa, homes in every major city in India, a palatial beach retreat in Goa, an apartment in New York’s Trump Plaza, and a castle in Scotland.

BLING SCORE: 5/5
How do you top that?

FLAVIO:
Briatore prefers to keep his homes to just a couple, and then rely on the presidential suites of Park Hyatt, his preferred hotelier.

Right now, Flav is camped out in a modestly-sized penthouse apartment overlooking the Thames on London’s Cheyne Walk, while he has his large Chelsea house renovated, just around the corner.

Then there’s the Lion In The Sun, his magnificent Kenyan getaway, which is made up of 20 villas, a huge pool and a world-class spa. Originally this was a private place for Flavio and his friends, but now he’s running it as a business. Rooms are available from a very reasonable 200 Euros. Last month Bono booked out the whole hotel.

BLING SCORE: 3/5
Flavio’s property portfolio is very modest for a man with eight figures in the bank, and loses some bling points by allowing paying guests to stay at his Malindi retreat. Then again, give him a bonus for getting the A-list to pay for something.

TOYS

VIJAY:
His flagship yacht, the Indian Empress, is the 15th biggest in the world and was purchased from the Saudi royals. The connoisseur will overlook the 95m length, the monogrammed bed sheets and twin Mercedes stashed on board and concentrate on the art – Dali, Renoir, Chagall and Picasso steal the limelight from the ocean view.

In addition, there’s the Indian Princess, a slightly smaller gin palace, and a new 125m berth on order which will be one of the top five biggest yachts ever built. Vijay takes delivery in 2010.

Then there’s the Kalizma, a 50m Edwardian yacht once owned by Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

As well as the art, there are the antiquities – he owns a number of significant artifacts including Tipu Sultan’s sword that was used to fight the British in 1799. Vijay paid £175,000 for it and returned it to India, after it had been seized by British forces 200 years earlier.

To keep up with Vijay you’ll need not one but four private jets. He’s got a Gulfstream, a Hawker, a Boeing 727 and an Airbus which is so loaded with luxurious materials and state-of-the-art toys that it took a year to outfit.

Now for the cars: He’s got about 260 of them! They are stored across ten countries and include a very valuable 1913 Rolls Royce low-slung Silver Ghost, the 1926 Sunbeam Tiger land speed record car, and a bunch of F1 cars from the 1970s which Vijay likes to drive at Sears Point. He also owns a Hummer bicycle and a Rolls Royce garbage truck.

BLING SCORE: 5/5
The toy story by which all other billionaires should be judged.

FLAVIO:
The 68.2m Force Blue is a former ice breaker that has been refitted at vast expense. It features 12 ultra-luxurious cabin suites and its own spa with vapor showers, Turkish bath and gym. It’s currently the 91st largest yacht in the world and has several recreational craft on board as well as a supremely elegant tender.

Flav manages to pack so much into his life thanks to a silver Lear Jet.

He prefers to be chauffeured rather than drive himself in either his Maybach, a classic Bentley or his company car, an Infiniti 4x4.

BLING SCORE: 3/5
Some smart toys there, no doubt, but a lackluster garage for a motor racing chief and in Vijay’s company he’ll have to try harder.

CLOTHES AND JEWELLERY

VIJAY:
He favours clothes from Armani, Lanvin and Ralph Lauren but it’s his jewellery that’s most impressive. Vijay is always adorned by weighty gold bangles and huge diamond earrings. He also owns a knuckleduster encrusted with precious stones.

BLING SCORE: 5/5
Even his underwear draw sparkles.

FLAVIO:
Think that’s team issue kit he’s wearing? You’re wrong, those Renault shirts are custom made by Flav’s personal tailor Angelo Galasso. His entire wardrobe is fitted and personalized. He wears a black diamond around his neck. On his left wrist is a silver bracelet given to him by Mohammed al-Fayed. On his right is a gold-platted bangle given to him by a girlfriend, and a mysterious red cloth band he acquired from a girl in Brazil.

BLING SCORE: 4/5
The link between the pitlane and the catwalk.

CIRCLE OF FRIENDS

VIJAY:
An icon in India, Vijay is mates with all of Bollywood’s biggest stars. Now with a global presence thanks to F1, he’s picking up new friends everywhere he goes. Jay-Z is on the Indian Empress more often than Vijay is! This weekend he entertained Lance Armstrong and Kate Hudson. He’s on his second marriage and has three children. But to promote his aspirational brand he travels the world with the Kingfisher calendar girls.

BLING SCORE: 3/5
With two massive parties planned aboard the Indian Empress this weekend, he’ll have made many more celebrity pals by Monday.

FLAVIO:
Flavio is one of the world’s best connected men, thanks in no small part to his relationships with Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum, with whom he has a daughter. He’s got Nelson Mandela on speed dial, is great mates with Silvio Berlusconi, and was even credited in U2’s last two album booklets after he helped broker a deal with Italy to cancel Africa’s debt.

BLING SCORE: 5/5
A friend to the starving, as well as the minted. There are, at most, six degrees of separation between Flav and everyone else.

OVERALL BLING:
Vijay Mallya: 28/30
Flavio Briatore: 23/30

Flavio Briatore’s estimated $150 million has gone a fairly long way and won him many admirers in the process. As he establishes himself in football his wealth and fame will rise, but when it comes to flashing his cash he’s met his match in Dr Vijay Mallya, who is worth £1.2 billion according to Forbes. With a bigger yacht on the way and now a global platform, Vijay’s bling will shine even brighter.

- Adam Hay-Nicholls - Metro.co.uk

Metro