BENGALURU: From keeping accounts for his mother’s modest real estate dealings to becoming an honorary consul and one of Bengaluru’s wealthiest developers, 57-year-old CJ Roy’s journey is a study in foresight and timing.Roy didn’t build his fortune by chasing obvious opportunities. Instead, he made his biggest bet on land most others dismissed — tracts along Sarjapur Road that would later transform into Bengaluru’s bustling tech corridor.Also read: ‘Kept briefcase with pistol close’: How CJ Roy’s final hours unfolded at his Bengaluru officeRoy’s early exposure to real estate came not from boardrooms but from his home. His mother, a neighbourhood real estate agent, quietly bought 30-40 sites at a time, built houses and sold them. Roy was not only tracking the accounts but also silently absorbed the mechanism of land transactions and cash flows. That grounding would later help him make informed decisions that reshaped not just his life, but parts of the city itself.Brought up in central Bengaluru, Roy would remember a city that moved at a gentler pace. BTM Lake was once a spot where fishermen cast their nets, paddy fields lay within city limits, and by 6.30pm the streets would be empty. Watching Bengaluru expand outward left a lasting impression on him: cities, he realised early on, grow towards opportunity, not convenience.His professional life began in 1990 with nine-to-five roles at companies such as BPL, TVS and HP before stepping into realty business. “I came to business by choice, but entrepreneurship happened by chance,” he had said in an earlier interview.The defining moment came in 2001. At a time when Bengaluru’s real estate players were fixated on central business districts, Roy looked to the outskirts. Sarjapura then was little more than a quiet fringe—open fields, long empty roads and acres selling for about Rs 6 lakh. Most saw it as too remote to matter. Roy saw the geography differently. “With Whitefield emerging on one side and Electronic City booming on the other, I felt Sarjapura could become the midpoint connecting the city’s IT workforce,” he had said. In 2005, he launched Confident Group.He added: “I had enough capital to buy 150-200 acres in Sarjapura and I decided to go ahead with it instead of sinking money into the CBD (central business district).” In fact, when he placed the idea before his family and company directors, the proposal met stiff resistance. Only one person supported it—his wife. Trusting that single vote, Roy walked away from central Bengaluru and committed to building on the periphery.The gamble paid off spectacularly. As Sarjapur Road evolved into Bengaluru’s tech zone, land values surged, delivering nearly tenfold returns. Subsequently, he bought lands near Devanahalli (close to Kempegowda International Airport) before expanding his business to Kerala and Dubai.How he sparked flat sales in KeralaAccording to him, his first purchase comprised two pieces of land in Kakkanad near Kochi. While 100 flats were designed and much was spent on road shows, there were zero sales there. But a chance encounter in Mumbai with an executive of a Malayalam TV channel led him to offer his flat as the prize to the winner of a reality show. He became the brand ambassador of this show and became the talk of the town. The popularity led to flat sales soon after.From Maruti 800 to a dream garageRoy’s relationship with cars began modestly. In 1994, he bought his first vehicle—a Maruti car. It wasn’t just a purchase; it was an emotional milestone. In fact, a salesman, dismissive of his curiosity, had asked him to leave. Roy later recalled that the incident sparked a quiet resolve to one day own the world’s most iconic cars. Roy went on to own scores of luxury vehicles, including 12 Rolls-Royce cars, a Bugatti Veyron, a Koenigsegg Agera, Lamborghinis, a McLaren 720S, and a Mercedes-Maybach. Roy had stated that he was paying Rs 18 lakh per Rolls-Royce in insurance premium, and the insurance of all his vehicles put together came up to crores. In a full-circle moment, Roy, who once sold his first car to buy his second, recently repurchased that original Maruti car. To trace it, he even announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for anyone who could help him locate and return the car.1.3 million followers on InstagramRoy had an active Instagram presence with 1.3 million followers even though he had disabled the comment section. His last post was a wish for Republic Day where he said, ‘ A Very Happy Republic Day’, with a big smile on his face, wearing a blue blazer. It garnered close to 5 lakh views. He posted actively on his cars and choppers, his travel stories, his time with his family (wife and two kids) and his real estate projects.
