Mumbai: While he is known to love a lavish lifestyle, parties and the company of influential people, those who know stock analyst Gautam Vora also say that he is a reasonable boss whose main demand of his employees is that the company's targets are met, reports Times of India.
On Sunday, a full three days after his high-profile model girlfriend Viveka Babajee was found to have committed suicide, there was still no sign of Vora at his residence at Urvashi Apartments, Nepean Sea Road, where he lives with his mother and brother.
The building's security guards said they haven't seen Gautam enter or exit the building since Friday. However, while one of the guards on duty on Sunday said that the family had taken off in one of their cars early in the morning, others from the building pointed out that all three cars owned by the Voras were parked where they are everyday. One of the cars pointed out was a Mercedes, while another was a Honda Civic.
Educated in the United States at Indiana University, those who have worked with Gautam said he is a reasonable boss who does not throw tantrums or interfere too much with his employees as long as they meet their targets. In the US, he worked with some Wall Street securities firms for four to five years before moving back to India to join the family firm, ULJK Securities, which is one of the oldest broking houses on Dalal Street. A top official at a domestic broking house who has been acquainted with Gautam described him as intelligent.
Set up in 1903, it seems that ULJK is the acronym for Umesh, Laldas, Jamnadas and Khushaldas, the names of Gautam's father, grandfather, great-grandfather and greatgreat-grandfather, respectively. Some Dalal Street veterans said that a few years ago, when broking houses were forced to change from partnership and proprietorship structures to full corporate entities, the name was changed to ULJK Securities. Laldas Vora was the president of the Bombay Stock Exchange for nine years and at one point of time the firm used to be one of the most influential broking houses on Dalal Street.
The Voras occupy Flat 231 on the 23rd floor of the high-rise Urvashi Apartments. After the death of his father Umesh Vora last year, Gautam now lives with his mother Madhavi and younger brother.
“He loves the good life,'' was how one stockbroker described Gautam. Some sources at Urvashi Apartments said they have seen Gautam often return home late after attending parties.
Of late, ULJK Securities is reportedly pushing to grow its institutional broking business, which involves doing trades for foreign institutional investors (FIIs), insurance firms, banks, mutual funds and corporates. Occasionally, Gautam writes columns on the stockmarket in business dailies and magazines. Originally, the firm traded under the name of Jamnadas Khushaldas & Co, the name under which the firm is now a member of the National Stock Exchange (NSE). The group also has a commodities broking business, ULJK Commodities Pvt Ltd, which is a member on the Multi-Commodities Exchange (MCX).
While a cell number said to be Gautam Vora's was switched off all day on Sunday, there was no reply to another number that is said to belong to his mother. There was no reply on the family's landline too.
