People who have been trading in the stock market must have heard the name Manu Manek Mundra, also known as the Black Cobra of the stock market during the 1990s.
In this post, I will provide deep information about Manu Mundra Manek, including who he was, his family background, his impact on the stock market in the 1990s, etc. So without further ado, let’s begin.
Who is Manu Manek Mundra?
If you have watched the series Scam 1992 based on the stock market that came out in 2020, then you must have seen a stock market broker in it who was ruling the stock market before Harshad Mehta.
That broker was none other than Manu Manek Mundra, also known as the Black Cobra of the stock market during the 1990s.
In this series, the role of Manu Manek Mundra is played by the late actor Satish Kaushik, who recently died due to a heart attack at the age of 66.
He had immense power and influence over the stock market because of his wealth and followers, such as Charter Raju, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, and Radha Kishan Damani.
Many people around that time say Manu was the “kingpin” of the stock market. People used to say, “मन्नू भाई ना राजमा मार्केट मजामा” means there is profit and well money in the market under the rule of Mannu Mundra.
Many people associated with the stock market at that time say that because of Manu Mundra’s wealth and strong political connections, he used to rule the Bombay Stock Exchange.
K. R. Choksey, a stockbroker at the time, says that companies listed on the stock exchange had to get approval from Manu Manek for many things.
Things such as electing a new director in the company, paying dividends, etc., required his permission. If a company doesn’t ask him or consider his opinion, then that company has to suffer losses.
He was also known as Manu Mandudia. Mandudia means ‘Mandi’ in Hindi. People believed that he was the reason for the fall in share prices.
Manu Manek Real Pic
This is the only photo I found on Quora that is said to be a Manu Manek real photo.
The guy on the left-hand side is Manu Manek. It was taken in the 1990s when Manu Manek, aka The Black Cobra, came to their house to meet his grandfather, who has a friendly relationship with Manu.
This is the only photo that claims to be Manu Manek real picture, and I don’t know how accurate this image is either because there is no authentic source where I can find Manu’s real photo.
Also read: Is the stock market gambling?
What is Manu Manek’s net worth?
It is said that at the time of Manu Manek’s death, his net worth was estimated to be around $50 million.
Manu Manek Family
Manu Manek, also known as Manu Mundra, was born into a middle-class family in Kolkata, India. However, specific details about his family remain undisclosed.
Manu Manek Early Life
Manu Mundra, also known as Manu Manek, is believed to have been born in Kolkata in the 1940s or 1950s.
As I said earlier, he belonged to a middle-class family.
People say he completed his schooling at a local private school in Kolkata.
After graduating, he started working in the stock market as a stockbroker, and later his primary profession became trading and stock brokering.
What made Manu Manek the Black Cobra?
To understand what made Manu Manek the black cobra, you need to understand ‘Bull Cartel’ and ‘Bear Cartel’.
1. Bull Cartel
The bull cartel was a group of individuals like Harshad Mehta who tried to profit from rising share prices in the stock market. They used various strategies and tactics to increase stock prices and profit from the subsequent increase in value.
During that time, both the Bull Cartel and Bear Cartel used the “Pump and Dump” technique to generate profits in the market.
This technique involves artificially inflating the price of a stock through deceptive or manipulative means and then selling it for a profit when the price reaches a peak.
Individuals like Harshad Mehta often buy shares at low prices and manipulate the market to increase prices. This allowed them to sell the shares at a profit, capitalizing on artificially inflated stock prices.
The process of “Pump and Dump” consists of three key components:
- Buying at low prices
- Pumping: artificially inflating the stock price through manipulation.
- Dumping: selling the shares at a higher price and booking profits.
2. Bear Cartel
On the other hand, there were people like Manu in the bear cartel. The people of Bear Cartel used to wait for the share price to increase first, and when they felt that the share price had increased too much, they used to short it.
In this strategy, the trader makes a profit when the stock price declines. Bear cartel members would short shares that they believed were overvalued and ready to decline, which allowed them to profit from declining stock prices.
Manu Manek’s wealth was so vast that he used to lend money to traders at interest rates of 20–30% per annum.
In return, he would use it to get information about how many people are investing or trading in the stock market and which stocks they are targeting.
Then, with this information, Manu and his bear cartel were targeting those shares and shorting them to make money.
3. Forming the bear cartel
Manu Manek was powerful and used to control the stock market, but he knew that he alone could not completely control the entire market. So he used his name and power to form a cartel, which was said to include Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and Radhakishan Damani.
Later, the same group, which was formed by Manu, came to be known as the Bear Cartel, in which some other brokers and Manu used to short the prices of stocks.
With his powerful influence over the market and strong sense of judgment about the direction of the market, Manu Mundra dominated the stock market in his prime and came to be known as the “Black Cobra” of the Indian stock market.
He and his bear cartel used to dominate the market until Harshad Mehta arrived in the stock market.
Manu Manek vs. Harshad Mehta
These strategies by Manu Manek worked until Harshad Mehta entered the market. After Harshad Mehta’s entry, Manu’s strategies were not working because Harshad Mehta used to manipulate share prices in the stock market with his clients’s money and even banks’ money.
Manu Manek had no idea that Harshad Mehta could fetch so much money in the stock market.
And that’s why, when Manu Manek and his beer cartel felt that the stock price was high and started shorting the stock, Harshad Mehta used to pump up the stock price by buying more shares.
Due to this, Manu Manek and his bear cartel had huge losses in companies like Indrolis, ACC, etc.
When the Scam of 1992 was exposed and the public became aware of the illegal activities, members of the Bear Cartel breathed a sigh of relief.
They reportedly stated that if Harshad Mehta had remained invested in the stock market for seven more days, they would have lost all of their money.
Manu Manek vs. Dhirubhai Ambani
In the 1980s, Reliance started doing well under the leadership of Dhirubhai Ambani. At that time, companies were not used to getting capital quickly, so the company promotor had to convince their investors, and then the investors agreed to invest in the IPO.
Similarly, at that time, Dhirubhai Ambani had gone from city to city and convinced investors to invest in Reliance’s IPO.
Investors agreed to invest, and after that, the company was also doing well.
During this time, Manu saw Reliance and started short-selling the company shares quickly and dumping the share price by manipulating them.
Dhirubhai knew that if investors faced losses on their investments, the company would face difficulties raising capital in the future.
Dhirubhai understands the problem, and to tackle Manu, he brings Anand Jain.
Anand Jain and his associates bought shares that Manu and his bear cartel were dumping. And due to this, Reliance’s share price increased rapidly.
After this buying and selling process, the Reliace share price increased a lot.
And Manu has to return the shares he was shorting to the broker because he did not own those shares and was selling on credit.
But most shares were bought by Anand Jain and his associates. And that’s why there was no supply in the market.
Eventually, Manu accepted his defeat and accepted the loss. To settle all this mess, the Bombay Stock Exchange was closed for a few days.
Conclusion
This is all about Manu Manek, aka the Black Cobra of the Stock Market, who used to rule the Bombay Stock Exchange from the 1980s to the 1990s.
Many people like him or Harshad Mehta came into the market and thought they could rule over it.
But there is one thing they don’t understand: the stock market is unpredictable and can’t be controlled by any individual.
Successful investing requires a humble attitude, a willingness to learn from mistakes, and patience.
It’s important to understand that the market is always right and to make disciplined decisions.
