More than an estranged lover: Ness Wadia is Mohammed Ali Jinnah’s great grandson
Mumbai: Ness Wadia is more than just Preity Zinta’s estranged love. As shocking as it may seem, the industrialist is the great-grandson of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
Ness Wadia senior was a shipping and textile magnet. His grandfather, Neville, served as the chairman of the Bombay Dyeing textile company until 1977, after which his father Nusli Wadia took over.
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Ness Wadia’s mother, Muareen Wadia, was a flight attendant before she started the Gladrags fashion magazine. She is also the president of the Gladrags beauty pageants. One of India’s leading airline services, GoAir belongs to his brother, Jehangir.
Wadia completed his education from Tufts University in international relations in the US and engineering management from the University of Warwick in England. He obtained his master’s degree in management in 1998, in the middle of his career, and finished in 2001.
Read: Actress Preity Zinta files molestation case against Ness Wadia
He has dated Preity Zinta for nearly five years from 2005, and has been linked to other glamorous women like Nargis Fakhri and Janine Jeejeebhoy both before and after this relationship.
Soon in 2008, his IPL fever began where he and Zinta own 23% stake each in the Kings XI Punjab, while industrialist Mohit Burman owns 46%. Karan Paul, the chairman of Apeejay-Surrendra Group, Colway Investment, and Root Investment have smaller stakes. Wadia and Zinta paid $76 million to acquire the franchise.
After the IPL seasons of 2010-11, the team went into losses of Rs. 68 crore. In 2012-'13, however, the company claimed to have recorded a profit of Rs 78 lakh before tax.
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In 2010, the Registrar of Companies in Chandigarh had filed a criminal complaint against Ness Wadia, Zinta and Burman for failing to share the balance sheets of their franchise with the registrar.
Ness is locked in a bitter feud with Zinta, his former girlfriend, who has accused him of abuse and molestation during an IPL cricket match on May 30 in full public view, a charge the Bombay Dyeing group scion has rejected as “false and baseless”.
The two had ended their courtship a few years ago, but continued to co-own IPL team Kings XI Punjab along with some others. No Wadia group spokesperson was immediately available for comment.
Police is attempting to probe links between the threat calls and the ongoing investigation into the molestation allegations by Bollywood actress Preity Zinta against Ness Wadia.
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Zinta and Wadia had broken off their five-year-long relationship a couple of years back but continued to share business interest.
Several players of IPL team Kings XI Punjab, of which Zinta is a co-owner with Wadia, its support staff, and officials of Wankhede Stadium were reported to have been present when the alleged incident took place.
Zinta has also denied reports that she is selling her stake in the money spinning IPL and settling down in US.
Meanwhile, Preity Zinta who is currently in LA will reportedly fly down to Mumbai during this week to record her statement with the Mumbai police.
