A maverick Gujarati entrepreneur decided to turn history upside down by buying the fabled and dreaded East India Company that once owned India.
Sanjiv Mehta, born into a Gujarati Jain family in Mumbai in October 1961, studied at Sydenham College in Mumbai, followed by further studies at the prestigious IIM Ahmedabad. He then pursued advanced studies at the Gemological Institute of America in Los Angeles. By the 1980s, Mehta set his sights on London, where he started an export business from his home. His breakthrough came with “Huggie” hot water bottles, which contributed significantly to his early success.
In the early 2000s, Mehta’s path intersected with the historic East India Company, a name that had become a shadow of its former self. Originally a powerful trading entity with a 400-year history, the company had been reduced to a small tea and coffee business.
For a century, the EIC existed only in historical records, with financial statements and documents archived until the 1920s in the British Library. In the early 1980s, a group of Londoners revived the brand with the Queen’s permission, focusing on tea and coffee businesses. They expanded the EIC’s brand in Europe, the USSR, and the US.
After a dormant period of nearly 150 years, its shareholders sought to revive it, but Mehta saw a deeper opportunity.
“I bought the first 21% shares of the East India Company in 20 minutes,” said Mehta. That was all it took for an Indian to set off the process of buying a 400-year-old English company.
Driven by a personal connection to the company’s colonial past, Mehta embarked on a rigorous 18-month process to acquire the EIC in 2005. He spent extensive time studying its history at the British Library and the Victoria and Albert Museum.
In 2010, Mehta officially re-launched the EIC in London with a luxury store, symbolically opening on the same day the company had been dissolved 135 years earlier. The store offered a range of high-end products, including teas, jams, gold coins, and books, blending historical legacy with contemporary luxury.
In 2011, the Mahindra Group, led by Anand Mahindra, acquired a minority stake in the company. Mahindra shared Mehta’s view of the company’s symbolic importance, expressing delight in “turning history upside down” and celebrating the company’s revival.
Under Mehta’s leadership, EIC began integrating into British culture. It sponsored tea appreciation events with The Spectator and secured a prestigious deal with the Royal Mint to produce commemorative coins. Each gold coin, starting at £125,000, featured the Queen’s silhouette and the East India Company stamp, blending historical and luxury elements.
As the company continues to evolve, its controversial past may become less significant, with business success and viability taking precedence.
Mehta’s journey from a Mumbai-based entrepreneur to the owner of the EIC demonstrates a unique fusion of history and modern entrepreneurship, reshaping the legacy of a once-feared symbol into a contemporary luxury brand.
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