For years, the Serum Institute of India was known primarily for vaccines. Founded by Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, the Pune-based company quietly grew into the world's largest vaccine manufacturer by volume, becoming a global healthcare powerhouse long before most Indians recognised the brand name.
Covid-19 changed all of that.
As the Serum Institute’s Covishield vaccines rolled out across India and much of the world, the company and its chief, Adar Poonawalla, became well-known. The man, often called “The Vaccine Prince of India,” was soon one of the most recognisable faces of India’s response to the pandemic and the country’s pharmaceutical muscle.
But vaccines are only one part of Adar Poonawalla's fast-growing business empire now.
The business tycoon Adar Poonawalla, today the CEO of the Serum Institute, is an established investor across finance, entertainment, media and sports. His recent acquisition of a stake in IPL franchise Rajasthan Royals, along with the billionaire Mittal family, has once again put him in the forefront as one of India’s most influential businessmen.
But then, who is Adar Poonawalla? Why is he investing in more than just vaccines? And why are the billionaires now looking at IPL franchises as financial assets and not just cricket teams?
Here’s what you need to know.
Who is Adar Poonawalla?
Adar Poonawalla is an Indian businessman and CEO of the Serum Institute of India (SII), the world’s largest vaccine maker. He was responsible for manufacturing the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine in India and distributing it globally. SII has also developed other vaccines like one for Covid-19 under his leadership.
Adar Poonawalla, son of Serum Institute of India founder Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, was born in 1981. He studied at the University of Westminster, London, and Bishop’s School, Pune.
Over the years he took over the operations of the Serum Institute and became the CEO of the company.
He led the Serum Institute's aggressive expansion into global vaccine markets and the scaling up of its manufacturing. But the Covid-19 pandemic made Adar Poonawalla well-known around the world.
How did Adar Poonawalla become well-known in the business?
The world was going through the pandemic, and the Serum Institute had tied up with AstraZeneca and Oxford University in 2020 for the manufacture of the Covishield vaccine in India. At one point Covishield accounted for nearly 90% of India's COVID vaccination programme.
From 2020 to 2022, the Serum Institute delivered vaccines to hundreds of millions of people in India and a handful of overseas markets. Adar Poonawalla was then one of the highest-profile business leaders in the country.
He is also called the 'Vaccine Prince of India' for fast-tracking the vaccine manufacture at breakneck speed. The success boosted the group's financial firepower and may have given Poonawalla the confidence to step out of pharma.
Why does Adar Poonawalla buy stakes in the IPL team Rajasthan Royals?
In May 2026, Adar Poonawalla joined hands with the Mittal family to buy a controlling stake in the Rajasthan Royals IPL franchise. The franchise was sold for approximately $1.65 billion, a record for the league and among the highest paid for an IPL franchise.
The deal also indicates the growing acceptance among India’s richest investors that IPL teams are long-term, prime assets.
The ownership structure reportedly gives the Mittal family a majority stake, with Adar Poonawalla owning 18%. Poonawalla later described the move as a strategic investment for the long term.
"I am delighted to partner with Aditya Mittal on this investment," he said. "Rajasthan Royals is a premier IPL franchise with a strong legacy, and I look forward to supporting its continued growth and long-term success."
The acquisition comes shortly after reports that Poonawalla was also exploring a bid for Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Why Are IPL Teams Becoming Billionaires’ Financial Assets?
The IPL today is far bigger than just cricket. The league ecosystem is estimated to be worth nearly $18 billion, driven largely by media rights, sponsorship deals and digital monetisation.
For investors like Poonawalla, IPL franchises now resemble institutional assets rather than traditional sports clubs.
A large chunk of franchise revenue comes from centrally shared broadcasting rights and sponsorship agreements. That creates relatively predictable cash flows, reducing dependence purely on on-field performance.
That's part of the reason franchise valuations have exploded over the years.
In 2008, the Rajasthan Royals were worth about $67 million. Today, its valuation has grown manifold, a reflection of the IPL's evolution into one of the world's most commercially successful sports leagues.
For billionaire investors, owning an IPL team is becoming more of a mix of brand power, entertainment reach and long-term capital appreciation.
Is Adar Poonawalla creating a diversified consumer empire?
For sure.
What was once a family vaccine business has been transformed into a diversified business group that includes finance, entertainment, healthcare, sports and clean energy.
Over the past decade Poonawalla has been vigorously diversifying his businesses away from pharmaceuticals. Importantly, many are investments into scalable consumer-driven businesses with recurrent revenues.
So, how has Adar Poonawalla jumped into the finance space?
The biggest gambit he took to diversify his portfolio of businesses was to enter the financial industry.
In 2021, Poonawalla acquired Kolkata-based Poonawalla Fincorp (formerly Magma Fincorp) for Rs 3,456 crore through Rising Sun Holdings and rebranded it as Poonawalla Fincorp. It is presently the flag-bearer NBFC entity of the group with substantial expertise and specialisation in the consumer and MSME financing sections. The company is able to boast millions of consumers spread across the length and breadth of India, while it also claims to see an exponential growth in its AUM (Assets Under Management).
Here are the latest numbers:
AUM touches Rs 60,000 crore
Net Interest Income crosses Rs 1,200 crore in Q4 FY26
Net profit is up 309% YoY to Rs 255 crore in Q4 FY26
The company has also experienced a sharp increase in its market capitalisation over the past few years.
But the stock, trading at a premium to many traditional NBFC peers, has also raised concerns about valuation multiples among analysts.
What was Adar Poonawalla's first investment other than vaccines?
He actually put his money early on, not in vaccines but in the retail pharmacy business. Poonawalla had invested in the Mumbai-based omnichannel pharmacy chain Wellness Forever in 2015.
The company has grown into a major retail pharmacy and health care chain with hundreds of stores since then. The investment is part of Poonawalla's larger plan to leverage healthcare consumption-led sectors but with scalable retail economics.
Adar Poonawalla investment in microfinance
Poonawalla has also forayed into microfinance with an investment in Svasti Microfinance. The company has a pan-India footprint and lakhs of customers, with a focus on financial inclusion and small-ticket lending.
His continued investments into Svasti eventually aided the development of his larger ambition in financial services, which saw the creation of Poonawalla Fincorp.
How did Poonawalla’s portfolio make it to Bollywood?
2024 was the biggest surprise.
In 2024, Adar Poonawalla made a glitzy Bollywood debut by buying a 50 per cent stake in Karan Johar-helmed Dharma Productions and Dharmatic Entertainment. The nearly 1000 crore deal showed that Poonawalla's interests are not only in vaccines and finance but have now extended into cinema and streaming services in the fast-expanding Indian entertainment industry.
The investment marked a broader shift in strategy - away from healthcare-led wealth creation to a diversified consumer-facing conglomerate.
With film production and digital entertainment continuing to grow in India, Bollywood was another long-term consumption play with streaming.
Is Adar Poonawalla investing in art and luxury businesses as well?
Yes.
His business interests are not limited to vaccines, finance and cricket. Earlier this year, his family office bought nearly 20% of AstaGuru, one of India's better-known premium auction houses. The move also speaks to Poonawalla's personal passion for art, rare collectibles and luxury assets, adding another dimension to his rapidly expanding investment portfolio.
The diversification is evidence that the group is gradually moving away from its image as simply a vaccine producer.
Is Serum Institute still growing despite diversification?
Very much so.
While Adar Poonawalla is aggressively expanding in finance, cricket and entertainment, Serum Institute is aggressively expanding in healthcare and vaccine research.
The company recently entered into a licensing agreement with Oxford University Innovation to support the development of a new malaria vaccine candidate. It has also collaborated with international organisations to build investigational vaccine stockpiles for viruses such as Nipah.
Diversification is not at the expense of the group's core healthcare business. The Serum Institute is, rather, the financial and strategic backbone of the bigger empire.
The Business Journey of Adar Poonawalla: Why is it Important for India Inc.?
Adar Poonawalla is a new breed of Indian billionaire entrepreneur, not limiting himself to one sector.
Like billionaires worldwide investing across technology, media, sports and finance, Indian business leaders build multi-sector empires.
His investment in Rajasthan Royals is not only about cricket. It shows how India's sports economy is maturing into a serious financial asset class.
It also reveals how rich business families now view media, entertainment and sports as extensions of consumer power.
Net worth of Adar Poonawalla
Adar Poonawalla's net worth is estimated to be in excess of $16 billion, making him one of India's richest business leaders in recent times. Much of that wealth still comes from Serum Institute, which remains India's most valuable private company in the healthcare space.
But increasingly, his future identity may not be limited to vaccines alone.
From Vaccines to Cricket - Is Adar Poonawalla Building India's Next Diversified Conglomerate?
That may well be the bigger story.
Over the last few years, Adar Poonawalla has quietly transformed from a healthcare entrepreneur into a diversified investor spanning finance, sports, entertainment and consumer businesses.
The Rajasthan Royals deal simply adds another high-visibility asset to that portfolio.
And if the pace of expansion is any indication, the "Vaccine Prince of India" may now be aiming for something much larger - building one of India's most influential new-age business empires.