Businessman Mathai George George Muthoot, chairman of the Muthoot Group – the largest gold loan non-banking financial company (NBFC) – died after a fall in his New Delhi home, PTI reported quoting the family on Friday. He was 71 years old. 

Muthoot has long been based in Delhi, although his company, a diversified conglomerate that runs operations in over 20 businesses from gold loans to securities, realty estate to infrastructure, hospitals to hospitality and education, is headquartered in Kochi. 

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Muthoot was born in November 1949 in Kozhencherry in the present day Pathanamthitta district of Kerala as the son of M George Muthoot, who began the finance business and as the grandson of Muthoot Ninan Mathai, the group founder.

After graduating from the Manipal Institute of Technology with a degree in mechanical engineering, Muthoot joined the family business as an office assistant and in 1979 he became the managing director and group chairman in February 1993.

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In the early 1980s, the large family broke up and the family empire was divided between the cousin brothers and this led to the creation of Muthoot Pappachen Group, another diversified group in the state which runs rival gold loan company Muthoot Fincorp.

The Muthoot Group’s flagship Muthoot Finance had a loan book of close to Rs 56,000 crore in the December 2020 quarter.

The group has grown manifold under him–when he took over it had just 31 branches but has over 5,550 branches across the country and outside today and the group.

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Muthoot leaves behind wife Sara George and two sons. While eldest son George M George is the executive director of the group, the youngest son Alexander George is the director of the group and the second son Paul Muthoot George was murdered in 2009.

He was also a lay trustee of the powerful Orthodox Church in the state and was also a member of the national executive committee of Ficci and headed the Ficci Kerala council.

Forbes Asia listed him as the 44th richest Indian in 2020 with close to $5 billion assets and the richest Keralite.