Success stories of Colonel Sanders who founded the iconic Kentucky Fried Chicken at 65, and Nykaa's Falguni Nayar who quit her job to become an entrepreneur at 50, show how age doesn't matter. Days after being named India's oldest billionaire at 99, former Mahindra chairman Keshub Mahindra passed away this week.
Lachhman Das Mittal, the 92-year-old who succeeded Mahindra as the oldest billionaire, became an entrepreneur in his 60s after retiring from LIC.
Age-defying grit and ambition
After starting off as an insurance agent for the state-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India, Mittal held on to his steady job for 35 years till 1990.
The MA in English kept saving money from his salary and started a side business in 1970, but the venture failed leaving him broke.
Five years after his retirement, Mittal got back to his feet and launched Sonalika Tractors in 1995, which has become a Rs 20,000 crore firm in less than three decades.
New beginning after the end of a career
Starting at an age when most people enjoy retirement, Mittal created India's third-largest tractor manufacturer, which exports vehicles to 120 countries now.
While two of his three sons are heading Sonalika Tractors now, Mittal's daughter Usha Sangwan decided to follow his footsteps to work for LIC and also became the insurer's first woman managing director.
The man who built an empire and has dealerships of his own, had also been rejected by Maruti when he applied for their dealership on his entrepreneurial journey.
(To receive our E-paper on WhatsApp daily, please click here. To receive it on Telegram, please click here. We permit sharing of the paper's PDF on WhatsApp and other social media platforms.)
