Vijay Mallya, Indian businessman and politician
Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman and former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha). He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India.The son of a businessman who was also in the alcoholic beverages business, Mallya is the ex-chairman of United Spirits, the largest spirits company in India, and continues to serve as chairman of United Breweries Group, an Indian conglomerate with interests including beverage alcohol, aviation infrastructure, real estate, and fertilizer. He has been the chairman of Sanofi India (previously known as Hoechst AG and Aventis) and the chairman of Bayer CropScience in India for over 20 years, and the chairman of several other companies. Mallya was also the founder and former owner of defunct Kingfisher Airlines and former co-owner of the Force India Formula One team before it went into administration. He is also a former owner of the Royal Challengers Bangalore cricket team.