Kochouseph Chittilappilly is one of the most successful businessmen in the country today, commanding a net worth of Rs 9,000 crore. He also has a phenomenal success story where he started a small company with Rs 1 lakh and built companies like V-Guard Industries with market cap over Rs 11,000 crore and Wonderla Holidays with m-cap nearly Rs 2,500 crore. However, what makes him stand out among billionaire business tycoons is a selfless act he committed a little over a decade ago.

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At 61, a successful businessman with a multi-crore empire, Kochouseph decided to donate his kidney to a complete stranger. It was a poor truck driver. Kochouseph went ahead despite his family raising objections and doctors deterring him from donating one of his kidneys. He later told a leading daily that he did it because he wanted to tell people that it was okay to donate one of the kidneys if the body is fit.

Who is Kochouseph Chittilappilly?

Born in 1950 in a Thrissur suburb in present day Kerala, Kochouseph did schooling from a local church school and later earned a master's degree in Physics from Thrissur’s St Thomas College. He started his career in 1973 at an electronics company in Thiruvananthapuram making voltage stabilisers and emergency lamps. After working as a supervisor for three years, Kochouseph decided to leave the job and start his own company.

With a capital of Rs 1 lakh, he founded V-Guard Industries in 1977. He started his company with 2 employees and experience with trade union strikes in the 1980s led him to invent a new business model where the product is totally outsourced but the quality control is managed in-house. Today, his company is the largest stabiliser brand in the country. Diversifying his business, Kochouseph opened Kerala’s first water theme park in 2000 and then another even bigger flagship park in Bengaluru, establishing a new multi-crore business in the Wonderla brand.

He is also a philanthropist and is involved in various initiatives with his non-profit K Chittilappilly Foundation. He is involved in a project that is providing homes to 1000 homeless families. He is also the chairman of the Stray Dog Free movement. He has won several accolades, including the Rashtriya Samman award from the Government of India for being one of the highest taxpayers. Kochouseph is married to Sheela and they have two sons Arun and Mithun, who take care of V-Guard and Wonderla. He is also an author who has published multiple books including Practical Wisdom series and his autobiography Ormakkilivathil.