Who Is Arun Pandey: MS Dhoni’s Friend, Ex-Manager And Man Behind His Rs 1,000 Crore Empire

Arun Pandey is one of the closest friends of Chennai Super Kings skipper MS Dhoni and his former business manager.

Arun Pandey with MS Dhoni. (Source: Instagram)

Former India captain and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is the only cricketer in the world apart from Virat Kohli with a net worth of over Rs 1,000 crore – Rs 1,050 crore to be exact, according to latest reports. Apart from his earning from CSK every IPL season of around Rs 12 crore per annum, Dhoni has investment in various companies like Khatabook, Cars24, Shaka Harry and Garuda Aerospace.

But one man has been behind Dhoni’s rise to Rs 1,000 crore empire and that is his friend and manager Arun Pandey. The man called himself ‘friend, well-wisher and family member’ of MS Dhoni for more than a decade now.

Arun Pandey was the founder of MS Dhoni co-owned Rhiti Group back in 2007. “With sports in my soul, I founded Rhiti Group, an integrated sports and entertainment conglomerate in 2007, to make sports and entertainment an indispensable part of daily life. My contributory travails in image consultation and brand management services have revolutionized sports and celebrity management in India,” Pandey writes on LinkedIn platform.

At one time, Rhiti Group represented the likes of badminton star Saina Nehwal as well as Team India cricketers like Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Pragyan Ojha and RP Singh. Rhiti Sports also owned the marketing rights of Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings.

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Arun Pandey hails from Varanasi

Arun Pandey comes from humble beginning like MS Dhoni and was a left-arm spinner hailing from Varanasi. Pandey went on to play state-level cricket for Uttar Pradesh as well. He is a graduate from the famous Banaras Hindu University.

According to a report in ET, Pandey spent time at the music and movies company T-Series, which laid a launchpad for him. Back in 2007, Dhoni gave Pandey the licence to negotiate endorsement deals on his behalf. According to ET newspaper, Pandey struck four deals worth Rs 13.5 crore. At that time, Dhoni’s other deals (about 15 of them) were fetching him about Rs 25 crore.

Dhoni chose Arun Pandey over IMG, Percept and World Sports Group

Just before the 2011 World Cup, back in 2010, Dhoni’s contract with sports management first was up for expiry. With leading companies like IMG, Percept, World Sports Group, PMG Sports and Planman Consulting, all vying to bring home Dhoni, the Indian skipper went with Pandey and his Rhiti Sports.

The former India captain and wicketkeeper went on to pick up a 15.1 per cent stake in Rhiti Group – which raised ‘conflict of interest’ issues as Dhoni was still an active member of Team India as well as the captain.

Pandey floated brand and companies to market the name of ‘Dhoni’ with ventures such as ‘SportsFit’ and even a Bollywood movie which went on to become a blockbuster – ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’. Pandey was the co-producer of this Dhoni biopic.

Dhoni may have parted ways with Pandey when it comes to his business interests over the last few years but there is no doubt about the fact that it was Arun Pandey who propelled MS Dhoni’s off-field business interests to the stratospheric region they are today.