Even in the gilded world of Desi Bling with its private jets, designer fits and ‘40 kilos of gold’, there is one cast member who operates on a different level of wealth. Rizwan Sajan is the wealthiest cast member of Netflix’s latest reality show. While the show offers a glimpse into the luxury lifestyles and extravagant spending of the desi elite, Sajan’s rags-to-riches journey from the slums of Mumbai to becoming one of the richest Indian-origin businessmen in the UAE has particularly drawn attention.
Who is Rizwan Sajan?
Rizwan Sajan is the 62-year-old founder of Dubai-based Danube Group. Born in Ghatkopar, he is today among the richest Indians in the UAE.
(Also read: 40kg gold, Burj Khalifa home, party yacht: Inside life of Desi Bling’s school dropout-turned-billionaire Satish Sanpal)
What is Rizwan Sajan’s net worth?
Rizwan Sajan has an estimated net worth of $2.5 billion. According to Forbes, Danube Group had an annual turnover of around $1.3 billion in 2019 – and has been growing steadily ever since.
What does the Danube Group do?
Sajan founded the Danube Group in 1993. Today, the diversified business conglomerate is involved in everything from real estate, home décor, building materials, residential properties, architectural cladding, healthcare, hospitality, and media. Headquartered in Dubai, it operates in over 10 countries worldwide.
How did Rizwan Sajan make his fortune?
Despite being among the richest Indian-origin businessmen in the UAE today, Rizwan Sajan was not born with a silver spoon. Quite the opposite, in fact.
{{/usCountry}}Despite being among the richest Indian-origin businessmen in the UAE today, Rizwan Sajan was not born with a silver spoon. Quite the opposite, in fact.
{{/usCountry}}Sajan was born in the slums of Ghatkopar in Mumbai. According to Forbes India, he dropped out of school at a young age and started doing odd jobs to make money. As a child, he sold milk and books on the streets to eke out a living. “I started working at the age of 14,” he revealed in one Instagram post.
Eventually, he landed a job as a salesman in Kuwait, where his brilliance at closing sales got him recognition.
The Gulf War forced Rizwan Sajan to leave Kuwait and return to India, but the setback did not stop him. In the early 1990s, he moved to Dubai and started a small trading business from scratch. That venture, founded in 1993, eventually grew into the Danube Group — one of the Middle East’s biggest business conglomerates.
(Also read: Indian billionaire who unveiled Dubai tower named after SRK dismisses layoff fears amid West Asia conflict)