Kalanithi Maran

Kalanithi Maran (born 24 July 1964) is an Indian billionaire media proprietor. He is the founder and chairman of Sun Group, one of India's largest media conglomerates.^[2][3][4] He owns multiple television channels, newspapers, weeklies, FM radio stations, DTH services, a movie production house (Sun Pictures), and 2 cricket teams (Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in the South Africa T20 League).^[5] He also held a major share in the Indian airline SpiceJet from 2010 to 2015.^[6][7]

Kalanithi Maran
Born	Kalanithi Murasoli Maran (1964-07-24) 24 July 1964 (age 61) Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India[1]
Alma mater	Loyola College, Chennai University of Scranton
Occupation	Media proprietor
Known for	Founder & Chairman of the Sun Group
Spouse	Kavery Maran
Children	Kaviya Maran
Parent(s)	Murasoli Maran Mallika Maran

Career

Maran went to the United States to pursue an MBA degree at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. He was fascinated by the number of television channels available there, whereas India still had only one due to the Doordarshan monopoly. ^{[citation needed]} Upon completing his MBA, he returned to India in 1987 to work for his family's small publishing company, which included a weekly women's magazine. In 1990, Maran started a monthly video magazine in Tamil called Poomaalai. For every copy given to a public library, about 200 pirated copies were produced. The primary market of Poomaalai was Sri Lankan Tamils who fled to Europe.^[8] On the 14th of April 1993, he founded Sun TV.^[8][9] Sun TV was listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange on the 24th of April 2006 upon raising $133 million for 10% of the share capital, catapulting it into the billionaire charts.^[10][11] He was among the few representatives at a roundtable with the visiting then US President Bill Clinton.^[12]

Maran won Young Businessman awards from CNBC and Ernst & Young,^[13] and Forbes magazine named him the "Television king of southern India".^[14]

Under his leadership, channels owned by the Sun TV Network became some of the most viewed and commercially successful channels in South India. Sun TV was also the first channel in the country to establish its own earth station.^[12]

In June 2010, he acquired a 37% stake in SpiceJet from billionaire investor Wilbur Ross and promoter Bhupendra Kansagra, in his individual capacity and through his aviation company, KAL Airways. He also put up an open offer for 20%, which increased his stake to more than 50%.^[7][15][16]

Maran and his wife, Kavery, were ranked the highest paid business executives in the list of Indian executive pay charts with a package of ₹62 crore (US$7.3 million) each in 2014.^[17]

On 24 February 2015, he sold his stake in SpiceJet to Ajay Singh, the co-founder of the airline, as a part of a reconstruction and revival scheme, since the airline was facing huge losses.^[18][19]

In 2023, he was the 77th richest Indian, with a net worth of US$3 billion. The same year, his production house, Sun Pictures, produced Jailer, starring Superstar Rajnikanth, and went on to become the highest performing film of 2023 and second-highest grossing Tamil film of all-time.^[20]

Personal life

Maran was born to former Union Minister Murasoli Maran in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, on 24 July 1964.^[1] He is the grand-nephew of former Tamil Nadu chief minister M. Karunanidhi. Maran married Kavery, a native of Kodagu. They have a daughter, Kavya Kalanithi Maran, who is the Head of both his cricket franchises, Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League and Sunrisers Eastern Cape in South Africa T20 League.^[21][22]

Maran attended the Don Bosco Matriculation Higher Secondary School and continued his education through Loyola College, Chennai. To finish his formal education, the future media magnate traveled to the United States, earning his degree in business administration from the University of Scranton.^[23] As of November 2025, his net worth is US$2.57 billion.^[24]