The Sky's The Limit

On a trip to Nepal, Pierre Lamunière is granted exclusive access to the nation’s only billionaire, Binod Chaudhary, who talks about his family, the future of his company and his love for his country

- Binod Chaudhary

FORTY YEARS AGO, I BOUGHT a second-hand Volkswagen van and, with my wife, drove out of Switzerland. We crossed the unstable and at times dangerous lands of Turkey, Iran, and Afghanistan. Our destination was Nepal.

This relatively small country has always drawn the attention of the world, whether for the majesty of the Himalayas, the fascinating story of Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, the first men to reach the top of the world, or the legacy of the Gurkhas, soldiers known as the bravest of the brave.

In the 1970s, the Kathmandu Valley was a favorite destination for Western backpackers and an iconic place for the hippie movement. Ravi Shankar’s music, yoga, and meditation, along with fresh air and free marijuana were part of a magical cocktail. Walking through Nepal’s capital by night, we could easily have encountered the fashionable, 20-year-old, long-haired man who had just opened Copper Floor, a nightclub frequented by tourists and locals alike. That young man was Binod Chaudhary and he would go on to found the Chaudhary Group, Nepal’s largest multinational company, becoming the first and only Nepalese on the Forbes World’s Billionaires list.

Copper Floor was his first venture outside the family business. Although he came from a conservative background, his passion for pop music and his business acumen made the happening place a success ahead of its time. The place was popular with the hippie crowd, but also with many members of the royal family. Among them, Prince Dhirendra, the son of the then-king of Nepal, became a close friend and was very helpful in a country where personal relations play such an important role.