Aryaman Vikram Birla, director at Aditya Birla Group, is set take over as chairman of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB). This follows the acquisition of the team by a consortium comprising Indian and foreign business entities.
The consortium comprising Aditya Birla Group, The Times of India Group, Bolt Ventures and Blackstone's perpetual private equity strategy, BXPE, has acquired Royal Challengers Bengaluru in a deal valued at $1.78 billion (around Rs 16,706 crore).
The all-cash transaction was confirmed by United Spirits Limited, the current owner of the franchise across both the IPL and WPL.
Aryaman Birla posted about the deal on Instagram and wrote, “Four partners. One shared belief!”
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Who Is Aryaman Birla?
A member of one of India's most prominent business families, Aryaman Birla has balanced both corporate and sporting pursuits. He was born on July 9, 1997, and is the son of Kumar Mangalam Birla, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group. Interestingly, he made his mark first in cricket.
In nine first-class outings, he amassed 414 runs and registered a hundred. He is also known to have opened alongside Rajat Patidar, now the captain of RCB.
A left-handed opener, he made his Ranji Trophy debut in 2017 and went on to notch up his first first-class century in 2018, scoring an unbeaten 103 against the Bengal cricket team at Eden Gardens.
Aryaman came into the spotlight after being picked up by the Rajasthan Royals at the IPL 2018 mega auction. However, in 2019, he took a sabbatical, citing “severe anxiety related to the sport”.
The final competitive outing for Aryaman came in January 2019, when he represented the Madhya Pradesh cricket team against Andhra in a Ranji Trophy match in Indore. He has since remained away from professional cricket, with no formal indication of a comeback.
Subsequently, Aryaman shifted to the corporate world. He is the director of the group's apex body, Aditya Birla Management Corporation.
He serves on the boards of key group entities such as Grasim Industries, Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail and Hindalco Industries.
He has also ventured into new business areas, founding Aditya Birla New Age Hospitality and Aditya Birla Ventures, which focus on hospitality and backing high-growth start-ups.
As per his LinkedIn profile, he has done MBA from Harvard Business School in 2025. He also has a Master's degree in Global Finance from Bayes Business School and a Bachelor's degree in Commerce from the University of Mumbai.
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