Reader TTS

MG George Muthoot, the chairman of Muthoot Group passed away on Friday evening in New Delhi. The 72-year-old business tycoon was the 26th richest Indian in 2020 with a net worth of $4.8

billion.

Muthoot Finance is one of the leading gold loan non-banking financial companies in the country. It was under his leadership that Muthoot Finance reached heights and also became the first

NBFC to enter the ' ₹1000 crore net profit club'.

Under the leadership of MG George, the group diversified and turned into a conglomerate operating 20 different divisions across India.

Also Read | Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey puts up first tweet for sale

The group, with a customer base of 6 million with 5,500 branches all across the country, was founded by his grandfather in 1887 and he was the third generation from his family to become the

chairman of the group.

"Gold-pawning may be a hoary trade, but we take the credit for making it an organized business and giving it respectability," the chairman had said for its gold financing business, reported

Forbes.

MG George was also the chairman of the FICCI Kerala State Council, trustee of the Indian Orthodox Church and a member of the National Executive Committee of the Federation of Indian Chambers

of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Notably, George was one of the six people from the Malayalee background to have entered the Forbes Magazine's Rich list of 2020.

As per the Forbes data, Muthoot Finance, the major profitable business of the group, had reported a 27 per cent hike in revenue to $1.3 billion and a 51 per cent rise in net profit reaching

up to $440 million, for the year ending March 2020.