India: Bollywood stars Katrina Kaif, Alia Bhatt make big gains on Nykaa investments

Bollywood celebrities Katrina Kaif and Aliya Bhatt, who had put in substantial amounts in Nykaa founder Falguni Nayar’s firms a few years ago, have seen hefty, 10X-plus gains in their investments after the listing of the company in the Indian stock markets.

FSN E-Commerce Ventures, the parent entity of Nayar’s firms, listed on the markets on Wednesday; the scrip skyrocketed nearly 90 per cent on the first day. Nayar, who has a 53.5 per cent stake in the company, saw the net worth of her investments soar by $7.7 billion (Rs566 billion).

Aliya had invested almost Rs50 million in the company in July 2020; the value of her holdings has now catapulted to Rs540 million.

Even Katrina has seen her over Rs20 million investment in Nykaa-KK Beauty, which looks after the retailing of the Kay Beauty brands, balloon to over Rs220 million.

Interestingly, topnotch Indian celebrities, both from Bollywood and the world of cricket, have been investing in startups and recording hefty gains after the listing of the firms.

Amitabh Bachchan had recorded a 46-fold return in his investments in Just Dial, a search engine. In 2010, the Big B was allotted over 62,000 shares in the company, amounting to Rs627,000. Two years later, the value of his holdings shot by a phenomenal 10,200 per cent.

Other Bollywood stars who have invested in startups include Deepika Padukone (Bellatrix Aerospace, BluSmart, FrontRow, Atomberg Technologies and Drum Foods International), Akshay Kumar, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Anushka Sharma and Priyanka Chopra Jonas.

Not to be left behind in the scoring on the capital markets, cricketers including Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and MS Dhoni have been investing in companies that they have been associated with, and reaping hefty gains a few years later.

• India