Harshad Mehta – The Rise and Fall of India’s Infamous Stockbroker

Harshad Mehta was an Indian stockbroker who gained nationwide attention in the late 1980s and early 1990s for his rapid rise to riches and his involvement in one of India’s most infamous financial scandals. This article will delve into the life and career of Harshad Mehta, exploring his early days, his meteoric rise, and his eventual downfall.

Table Of Contents

Early Life and Career

Harshad Mehta was born on July 29, 1954, in Rajkot, Gujarat. He grew up in a middle-class family and moved to Mumbai in the early 1970s to pursue his career in the stock market. He began his career as a jobber, a middleman who facilitates transactions between buyers and sellers in the stock market.

Rapid Rise to Fame

Mehta’s fortunes changed in the late 1980s when he discovered a loophole in the Indian banking system. He realized that he could borrow money from banks and use it to buy stocks, thereby driving up their prices. He would then sell the stocks at a higher price and return the borrowed money to the bank, pocketing the difference. This scheme, known as the “Ready Forward” scam, earned him enormous profits and made him one of the wealthiest men in India.

Harshad Mehta Net Worth

Harshad Mehta’s net worth was estimated to be around $800 million during the peak of his career. His fraudulent “Ready Forward” scam allowed him to manipulate stock prices and make huge profits. However, after the scam was exposed in 1992, his assets were frozen, and he lost his fortune.

Harshad Mehta passed away on December 31, 2001, at the age of 47. He suffered a heart attack while in Thane prison, where he was serving a five-year sentence for his role in the securities scam.

Harshad Mehta Family

Harshad Mehta came from a middle-class Gujarati family. His father was a small-time businessman, and he had six siblings. Mehta was married to Jyoti Mehta, and they had two children, a son named Atur Mehta and a daughter named Sucheta Mehta. Atur Mehta is Harshad Mehta son and Ashwin Mehta is Harshad Mehta brother.

Harshad Mehta  Wife

Jyoti Mehta was Harshad Mehta’s wife. Not much is known about her, except that she stayed loyal to her husband even after his downfall and subsequent imprisonment. She reportedly visited him regularly in jail and fought for his release.

Fall from Grace

Mehta’s luck ran out in 1992 when the stock market crashed, and the scam was exposed. He was arrested and charged with several financial crimes, including cheating, forgery, and criminal breach of trust. He spent several years in jail, fighting legal battles and trying to clear his name. He died of a heart attack in 2001 at the age of 47.

Legacy

Harshad Mehta’s legacy is mixed. On the one hand, he was a visionary who revolutionized the Indian stock market and made it more accessible to the common man. On the other hand, he was also a symbol of greed and corruption, who exploited loopholes in the system to amass his wealth. His downfall served as a cautionary tale for the Indian financial industry and led to several reforms aimed at preventing similar scams.

Achievements

Harshad Mehta was a self-made man who rose from humble beginnings to become one of India’s most successful stockbrokers. He is credited with revolutionizing the Indian stock market by introducing new trading strategies and making it more accessible to the common man. He also played a key role in pushing for reforms that led to the establishment of the National Stock Exchange. However, his legacy is marred by his involvement in one of India’s biggest financial scams, which led to his downfall and tarnished his reputation.

Conclusion

Harshad Mehta’s life and career were a rollercoaster ride of highs and lows. He was a man who started from humble beginnings and rose to the pinnacle of success, only to fall from grace in a spectacular fashion. His story remains a fascinating case study of the stock market’s potential for both prosperity and ruin.

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