Bunty Sajdeh: The mastermind behind Virat Kohli's rise in Forbes Top100 list

It is a well-established fact that Virat Kohli along with his successful international career is also one of the wealthiest personalities in the country. In Forbes’ list of Top 100 wealthiest sportsmen, Virat Kohli is placed strongly at the 89th position with pay of about USD 22m and net endorsement value of $19m. The credit apparently goes to Bunty Sajdeh who is the CEO of athlete management firm Cornerstone Sport.

Virat Kohli recently became the highest paid sports star from the country after signing a Rs 100-crore endorsement deal with sportswear manufacturer Puma. Apart from the Puma, Kohli also endorses brands such as MRF, Tissot, Pepsi, Colgate, Samsonite, Valvoline, Audi and PNB, among others. He also owns his own apparel by the name of Wrogn, along with his gym network named Chisel and wellness portal Stepathlon.

Bunty Sajdeh also manages other prominent stars of Indian cricket by the name of Ajinkya Rahane, Umesh Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Mayank Dagar and Shreyas Iyer. He has also handled Yuvraj Singh and Rohit Sharma at one point of time. Interesting, Ritika Sajdeh, sister of Bunty, is married to Rohit Sharma.

Interview with Sajdeh

“Virat deserves it every bit… He has grown to a level where he can pull it off nicely, like other international athletes. Just about 10-15% of mainstream Indian brands can afford Virat Kohli as their brand ambassador. When we sign a new athlete, we draw up a contract… But our relationship with the athlete goes beyond that contract. The relationship is far more important than the paper we make them sign,” quoted the CEO of Cornerstone according to Economic Times.

Sajdeh also stressed on the fact that he does not involve himself when players are in the field but instead utilizes the time off to engage them into deals by organising meetings with the potential clients.”I don’t accompany stars when they’re playing… that’s the time I meet corporates who may want to use my athletes for brand engagement. That’s when I get business for them,” continued Sajdeh. The head of the company put an ended by lauding the qualities of the Indian Skipper.

“Virat is a big brand name because he excels on-field… he also has a great persona off-field, being outspoken, wearing fashionable clothes (only earthy colours), wears his heart on the sleeve… That’s how good athletes become great brands,” concluded Sajdeh. Virat Kohli currently is leading the Indian team in his first ICC event in the ongoing Champions Trophy in England and Wales, in an attempt to defend their title they won back in 2013.