Srichand Hinduja, Chairman of the Hinduja Group, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 87. Widely called “SP”, he was the head of the billionaire Hinduja clan and had been ill for several years. SP was also the Chairman of Hinduja Bank of Switzerland and Hinduja Foundation.

“Gopichand, Prakash, Ashok and the entire Hinduja family announce with heavy hearted regret that our family patriarch and Chairman of the Hinduja Group, Mr. SP Hinduja, has passed away today,” a spokesperson for the Hinduja family said in a written statement. statement.

SP was the eldest son of the late Hinduja Group founder Parmananda Deepchand Hinduja, who started his entrepreneurial journey in Sindh, in the then undivided India. The founder moved base to Mumbai in 1914 and established an international base in Iran, where the group flourished for six decades.

After finishing his studies in 1952, SP joined his father in the family business. After his father’s death in 1971, SP took over and along with his siblings — Gopichand, Prakash and Ashoka — expanded the business portfolio, moving the group’s base to London after the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Today, the conglomerate has businesses ranging from trucks and lubricants to banking and power plants. With a combined net worth of $15.2 billion, the Hinduja brothers are ranked no. 8 on the list India’s 100 richest published last October.

SP led the acquisition of Chennai-based Indian truck manufacturer Ashok Leyland from British Leyland, as well as Gulf Oil from Chevron in the 1980s. He also spearheaded the establishment of IndusInd Bank, India’s first new generation private bank.

In a family statement, he is referred to as a “visionary and mentor to the family who imparts the fundamental principles and values ​​of our late father, PD Hinduja. He played a very important role along with his brothers in building a strong bond between his host country, the United Kingdom, and his homeland, India…His loss has left a huge void as the brothers have always been four bodies and one soul.”

The Hinduja brothers have always projected a united front and often quoted their family philosophy that “everything belongs to everyone”. But SP’s last years, when he suffered from dementia, were marked by family disagreements. In June 2020, a British court filing revealed a dispute between SP and his three siblings over the ownership of the Geneva-based bank. Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok disputed the SP’s claim of sole ownership of the bank and said it contradicted a 2014 letter signed by the brothers confirming joint ownership of the group’s entire assets.

SP, represented by his younger daughter Vinoo, argued in a UK court that the letter should have no legal effect on inheritance matters and could not be used as a will or power of attorney. SP’s brothers discovered that he was suffering from dementia and that his health had been deteriorating for several years.

The group’s next chairman is expected to be Gopichand Hinduja, who is based in London. Prakash is in Monaco and the youngest, Ashok, oversees Indian interests from Mumbai. The brothers, who own trophy properties such as Carlton House Terrace near Buckingham Palace, are preparing to open Raffles London, a luxury hotel formerly the Old War Office.