Kalanithi Murasoli Maran is an Indian billionaire media mogul who is the chairman and founder of the Sun Group. He owns television channels, newspapers, weeklies, FM radio stations, DTH services, a cricket team (

Sunrisers Hyderabad Sunrisers Hyderabad (stylised as SunRisers Hyderabad, SRH) are a franchise cricket team based in Hyderabad, Telangana, India, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is owned by Kalanithi Maran of the SUN Group and was ...

), and a movie production house. He also held a major share in the Indian airline Spice Jet from 2010 to 2015.

Career

In 1990, Maran started a monthly magazine in Tamil called ''Poomaalai''. On 14 April 1993, he founded Sun TV. Sun TV was listed on the

Bombay Stock Exchange BSE Limited, also known as the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), is an Indian stock exchange. It is located on Dalal Street in Mumbai. Established in 1875 by cotton merchant Premchand Roychand, a Jain businessman, it is the oldest stock exchange i ...

on 24 April 2006 upon raising $133 million for 10% of the share capital, catapulting him into the billionaire charts. He was among the few representatives at a roundtable with the visiting then US President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and again ...

. By 2010, he was the 17th richest Indian, with a net worth of US$4 Billion, and is the highest paid business executive in India. Maran and his wife, Kavery were ranked the highest paid Business executives in the list of Indian executive pay charts with a package of each. He has won Young Businessman awards from

CNBC CNBC (formerly Consumer News and Business Channel) is an American basic cable business news channel. It provides business news programming on weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., Eastern Time, while broadcasting talk s ...

and

Ernst & Young Ernst & Young Global Limited, trade name EY, is a multinational professional services partnership headquartered in London, England. EY is one of the largest professional services networks in the world. Along with Deloitte, KPMG and Pricewat ...

, and ''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also r ...

'' magazine named him the "Television king of southern India". He has won Young Businessman awards from

and

, and ''

'' magazine named him the "Television king of southern India".

Personal life

Kalanithi Maran is the son of the former Union Minister of India

Murasoli Maran Murasoli Maran (17 August 1934 – 23 November 2003) was an Indian politician and an important leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party which was headed by his maternal uncle and mentor, M. Karunanidhi. A Member of Parliament for 3 ...

and grand nephew of Former

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...

chief minister

M. Karunanidhi Muthuvel Karunanidhi (3 June 1924 – 7 August 2018) was an Indian writer and politician who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for almost two decades over five terms between 1969 and 2011. He was popularly referred to as Kalaignar (Art ...

. His younger brother

Dayanidhi Maran Dayanidhi Murasoli Maran (born 5 December 1966) is an Indian politician and one of the prominent members of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam party. He was elected thrice as a Member of Parliament to Lok Sabha from Chennai Central constituency during ...

was also a former minister. Kalanithi Maran married Kaveri, a native of

Coorg Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

and has a daughter named Kaviya Maran He had his schooling with Don Bosco, Egmore, Chennai. He graduated in commerce from

Loyola College, Chennai Loyola College is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other European Jesuits. It is an auton ...

. He did his MBA from

University of Scranton The University of Scranton is a private Jesuit university in Scranton, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1888 by William O'Hara, the first Bishop of Scranton, as St. Thomas College. In 1938, the college was elevated to university status and took t ...

References

External links

Sun Group

{{DEFAULTSORT:Maran, Kalanithi Businesspeople from Chennai Tamil billionaires Living people Indian television executives Tamil businesspeople Indian billionaires University of Scranton alumni 1965 births Loyola College, Chennai alumni Don Bosco schools alumni University of Madras alumni Tamil entrepreneurs Sun Group Indian Premier League franchise owners