Table of Biography
Sant Singh Chatwal is a well-known Indian-American businessman and philanthropist. Sant Singh Chatwal is best known as the founder and chairman of Hampshire Hotels & Resorts.
Early Life
Sant Singh Chatwal was born in 1946, in Punjab, India. He is around 77 years old and holds American nationality. Meanwhile, he has his belief in the Sikh religion.
Chatwal was born into a Sikh family. His family fled Western Punjab in British India during India’s partition in 1947. When his family left, he was one year old and had four brothers and three sisters. They settled in Faridkot, Punjab, India, and started a small merchant business.
Sant Singh Chatwal – Education
In terms of his academic background, Chatwal has not disclosed any information regarding his school, college, and qualifications. He seems to be an educated person and might have completed his degree from a local university in India.
Professional Career
At the age of 18, Sant Singh Chatwal joined the Indian Armed Forces at the age of 18 where he served as a fighter pilot on the country’s first and only aircraft carrier, INS Vikrant. He moved from India to Ethiopia to work for the country’s commercial airline. When he arrived, he was told he had to remove his turban, cut his hair, and shave his beard. Due to his Sikh heritage, he declined.
He then became a teacher at a nearby public school and became friends with the owner of a restaurant, who asked him to fill in for him for a few months when he fell ill. Additionally, he improved the company and was later asked to join as a partner, eventually buying out the other owner. He eventually became the owner of two restaurants serving Indian cuisine.
Caption: Sant Singh Chatwal an Indian-American businessman (Source: Commercial Observer )
He left the country in 1975 with some of his savings to open a restaurant in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. While in Canada, Chatwal started in the hotel business, purchasing his first hotel in 1976.
In 1979, he opened Bombay Palace, Midtown Manhattan’s first fine-dining Indian restaurant. He took Bombay Palace global, opening restaurants in London, Hong Kong, and Canada before becoming a publicly traded company.
He kept buying hotels, acquiring properties in Florida in 1980 and New York in 1982. Later, he merged all of his properties to form Hampshire Hotels & Resorts. Moreover, he was forced to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy during the 1990s real estate crisis.
He then began to bring in investors as partners and focused on hotel lifestyle branding, opening properties in New York, Los Angeles, and internationally. By 2006, he was the largest independent hotel owner in the United States, with 13 hotels totaling 3,000 rooms worth $750 million.
Pled Guilty
Chatwal is close to former US President Bill Clinton and his family, and has made significant financial contributions to his election campaigns, as well as to other Democratic Party causes and campaigns, involving prominent members of the party.
Moreover, he has traveled to India with the Clintons on several occasions and is a Trustee of the William J. Clinton Foundation. He pled guilty in April 2014 to illegal campaign contributions to three federal candidates, including Clinton, between 2007 and 2011. He received a $500,000 fine as well as probation and community service.
Hampshire Hotels & Resorts rebranded to Dream Hotel Group in 2015. Chatwal retained his position as chairman of the board, and the company hired a new CEO.
Awards
Caption: Sant Singh Chatwal gets Padma Shri Awards 2010 (Source:
Photos)
Till now, this has won a couple of awards and recognitions. He received the Padma Bhushan Award, India’s third highest civilian honor, in 2010, despite being an unpopular choice for the award due to several legal allegations leveled against the businessman. The “Economic Times” named Chatwal the 19th most powerful and influential Sikh in the world.
Sant Singh Chatwal – Net Worth 2024
As of 2024, Chatwal’s net worth is estimated at around $20 million while his earnings and salary are still unknown at the moment. He has been able to earn such an amount of money through his business ventures.
Relationship Status
Caption: Sant Singh Chatwal with his wife (Source: Commercial Observer)
Talking about his personal life, Sant Singh Chatwal married his wife Daman Chatwal. With the marriage, the couple has a son named Vikram Chatwal. There is not much known about Chatwal’s past relationship.
Controversy
Chatwal has been involved in a few controversies throughout his career. In 2014, he pleaded guilty to charges of campaign finance violations in the United States. He admitted to using straw donors to make illegal contributions totaling more than $180,000 to three different political campaigns. As a result, he faced potential imprisonment and fines.
In 2016, he faced allegations of financial irregularities in India. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids at his properties in connection with a bank loan fraud case. The investigation focused on allegations of loan default and misappropriation of funds related to his company, Hampshire Hotels & Resorts.
In 2017, he was accused of defrauding a New York-based businessman, Harbachan Singh, of nearly $9 million. Singh alleged that Chatwal promised to invest the funds in various business ventures but instead misused the money for personal expenses. The case resulted in a legal battle between the two parties.
Body Measurements
Chatwal has a pair of brown eyes and wears a page on his head. However, his height, weight, and body measurements are still unknown at the moment.
Social Media
Meanwhile, this Indian-American businessman is not active on social media such as Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.