The chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani, has topped Forbes’ 2024 list of the 100 richest Indians for the fourth time in a row. In the current year, the total of the 100 billionaires’ wealth reached USD 1 trillion for the first time. The net worth of Mukesh Ambani hit USD 119.5 billion, which was an increase of USD 27.5 billion over the last financial year and ranked 13th richest man in the world.
The recent declaration of bonus shares as a Diwali gift to Reliance investors also shows that Ambani is keen on shareholder value during this financial buoyancy. The report reveals that six billionaires added more than USD 10 billion each to their net worth.
Second on the list is Gautam Adani, who is the chairman of the Adani group with total assets of USD 116 billion. However, Adani has not been able to sustain such growth in its earlier years and has faced some problems, but it has bounced back and is continuing to grow in the competitive environment of Indian business.
The BSE Sensex has risen by a remarkable 30% in the past year and, together with the increase in the wealth of India’s billionaires by 40% from USD 799 billion in 2023 to USD 1.1 trillion in 2024. More than 80% of people in the list saw an improvement in their wealth; 58 people increased their wealth by USD 1 billion and over.
Forbes Asia’s India Editor Naazneen Karmali, the Asia Wealth Editor, pointed to the fast-growing stock markets in India as being instrumental to this wealth creation. She said, “The stock markets of India have grown at a very rapid pace, and the billionaires of India have been given a windfall, and many of them have touched new heights.
