WKND Conversation: Meet Binod Chaudhary, Nepal's first and only billionaire

Dr Binod Chaudhary, 65, is Nepal’s biggest export to the world after Mount Everest. Chaudhary, whose net worth is estimated at $1.6 billion (Dh5.88b), is the picturesque yet impoverished Himalayan nation’s first and only billionaire and has accumulated his wealth over the past four decades.

The affable and dapper Chaudhary, the head of CG Corp Global, is a proud third-generation Nepalese national of Indian descent. His grandfather, who belonged to Churi-Ajitgarh village from Rajasthan, had shifted his base to Nepal around 140 years ago to set up a textile business. Chaudhary, who is ethnically a Marwari, has business in his gene. He reminisces about bootstrapping his fanciful business concepts into a money-spinning reality. Wealth creation, he recalls, is his unbridled passion, as he’s not born with “the proverbial silver spoon”.

His initial business venture embodied the late 1970s’ Kathmandu that was basking in the glory of the Beatniks and the Flower Power generation. Chaudhary, then in his 20s and sporting long locks, had opened Copper Floor, a nightclub, which soon caught the zeitgeist of Kathmandu’s bohemian rhapsody, much to the delight of the Western backpackers and locals alike.

He struck out on his own outside the family business with Copper Floor, which was a sign of Bob Dylan’s The Times They Are a-Changin in somnolent Kathmandu. Copper Floor opened royal doors for Chaudhary. The late Prince Dhirendra of Nepal became a close friend of the budding entrepreneur and led to his intimate relationship with the former late King Birendra. The bonhomie stood in good stead in a country like Nepal, where close personal relations are key to business success. Chaudhary was a starry-eyed youth, who was passionate about travel, music and Bollywood movies, in his formative years. But passion took a backseat, as his biggest idea came fortuitously during an idle chatter with a friend who worked for a travel agency in Kathmandu. The friend had seen large quantities of instant noodles that were brought home by Nepalese families arriving from Bangkok, Thailand, on the luggage conveyor belts at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu.

Soon, Chaudhary flew to Thailand and convinced Kitti Pongsri, the managing director of the Wai Wai noodle brand, to get into a collaboration with him that would take the brand beyond the Land of Smiles. Wai Wai, which was launched in Thailand in 1972, opened a new manufacturing plant in Kathmandu in 1984, as Chaudhary spawned the brand’s success in the Indian sub-continent with technical support from the Thai group.And lo and behold, a noodle king was born. Wai Wai has emerged as Nepal’s most famous export over the years. Now, instant noodles are sold in over 40 countries in the world. It has 30 per cent of the market share in India, and over 60 per cent in neighbouring Nepal. Wai Wai factories are spread all across the world — from India, Bangladesh, Kazakhstan to Serbia and Egypt. Chaudhary’s business empire spans over 30 countries from Moldova to Kenya. Over 15,000 employees work for Chaudhary Group (CG), the only multinational conglomerate headquartered in Nepal, and CG Corp Global is for its global operations. The instant noodle-to-consumer goods conglomerate comprises 160 companies and deals in 123 brands, capturing the spirit of a diversified transnational corporate entity. The noodle king has diversified over the years from CG Foods, the maker of Wai Wai, to Nabil Bank, the first private bank in Nepal, and 134 hotel assets, including 36 owned and 98 managed properties, including a string of luxury hotels with India’s Taj Hotel’s chain owned by the Tata Group. His business portfolio is like a mini republic: from cement, telecom to hydropower and renewables coupled with education, biotech and Ayurveda. Hospitality sector may have been roiled by the raging novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic and many people have become collateral damage because of the contagion. But Chaudhary, a large-hearted employer known for his generosity, didn’t let go of a single employee because of a Covid-19-induced downturn in his businesses.