Jignesh
Shah had nurtured dreams of becoming a business tycoon since the tender age of
six. This goes on to show the burning ambition of the man, now known as the
‘Baadshah of Exchanges’.
After
passing out as an electronics engineer, he worked for the BSE, with a team that
was in the process of setting up its BOLT system. After understanding different
aspects of the finance field, he realized the potential and need for a
technology firm in this sector. Shah, along with a partner, set up Financial
Technologies India Limited (FTIL) in 1988, which offered solutions to brokerage
firms and exchanges. Later, FTIL set up commodity futures exchange MCX, the
National Spot Exchange and thereafter the MCX-SX currency-and-stock exchange.
MCX went on to become the world’s fourth-largest commodity derivatives exchange
by trading volumes at one point.
“The
Innovator of Modern Financial Markets”, as he is rightly called, Shah soon
started to enjoy power with the rest of the elite. Our present Hon’ble
President, Pranab Mukherjee, who was the then Finance Minister was instrumental
in issuing a license to MCX. The exchange was launched by P Chidambaram. In
Shah’s own words, “the exchange was set up to help farmers manage their stocks
and aid price discovery”. However,
the payment crisis at NSEL had far-damaging effects on Shah and his firms.
However,
he was undeterred. “The joy is in creation. Founders of a company have to
realize they are building an institution that survives beyond individual
lives,” Shah once told the Wall Street Journal when asked about the prospect of
having to renounce control at most of his key exchanges.
Reference
-ShantanuGuha Ray:(2016): ‘The Target Book’: New Delhi: Publisher: Authors Upfront
For more information check 63 Moons.
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