More Indians on Forbes 2023 billionaires list, 16 debut, oldest is 99-year-old
Forbes on Tuesday released its annual world billionaires list for 2023, in which the number of Indians mentioned in the list has hit a record high. There are 169 Indians on the list, up from 166 in 2022.
While there are more Indian billionaires on the list, their combined wealth dropped 10% to $675 billion, a dip from $750 billion on the 2022 list. Reliance chief Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest person in India and Asia and is currently the world’s ninth richest person. While the others saw their shares come down, none was as severely hit as Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani.
THE BIGGEST SLIDE
The person whose wealth saw a big slide was Gautam Adani, who is at the centre of a political storm after a report by Hindenburg Research. Adani, who is India’s second richest billionaire after Ambani, saw his net worth down by almost half from $90 billion last year to $47.2 billion, according to a Forbes report.
A report released by US short-seller Hindenburg Research in January which accused the Adani Group of engaging in accounting fraud, corporate governance lapses and stock manipulation. The Adani Group has vehemently denied the allegations.
Adani was briefly the world’s second richest person in September last year and was the world’s third richest person for most of January before the Hindenburg report surfaced. He now ranks 24th globally.
Mukesh Ambani’s fortunes saw an 8% dip compared to 2022, but he is still the world’s ninth richest person. His net worth totals $83.4 billion. His children are now handling key roles in different businesses — Akash (telecom), Anant (green energy) and Isha (retail), the Forbes report said.
Software magnate Shiv Nadar retained his position as the third richest person in India even as his fortunes saw an 11% decrease from the past year. His net worth is $25.6 billion.
Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman and Managing Director of the Cyrus Poonawalla Group, whose portfolio includes vaccine giant Serum Institute of India, was India’s fourth richest person. His fortunes are worth $22.6 billion after his net worth fell 7% from the past year.
The fortunes of retail magnate Radhakishan Damani fell to $15.3 billion as shares of his Avenue Supermarts, which owns the DMart retail chain, declined. Although Damani continues to feature among the world’s ten richest Indians, he has moved down to sixth position, While Lakshmi Mittal, who has a net worth of $80 billion, moved up to fifth.
Dilip Shanghvi, the Managing Director of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, remains the only Indian billionaire whose net worth remained unchanged this year as well. His fortunes are worth $15.6 billion.
THREE WOMEN DEBUT ON FORBES’ 2023 LIST
Three women, out of the 16 newcomers, made it to Forbes’ 2023 list of Indian billionaires. Among the women are 59-year-old Rekha Jhunjhunwala, the wife of the late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, dubbed India’s Warren Buffett. Rakesh Jhunjhunwala passed away in 2022. Rekha Jhunjhunwala’s net worth was $5.1 billion. The Forbes report said she inherited her husband’s stock profile after his death and has investments in major companies like Tata Motors and Titan.
Rohiqa Cyrus Mistry, the daughter-in-law of late construction billionaire Pallonji Mistry, made it to Forbes’ list for the first time. She was the wife of former Tata Group Chairman Cyrus Mistry, who was killed in a road accident in September last year. Rohiqa was married to Cyrus Mistry for around 30 years, with whom she had two children. Rohiqa (55) is the daughter of veteran lawyer Iqbal Chagla.
Saroj Rani Gupta is a self-made billionaire with a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes. The 72-year-old is the co-founder of APL Apollo Tubes along with her late husband SK Gupta. The company came into existence in 1986. Saroj’s son Sanjay Gupta is the Managing Director of APL Apollo Tubes.
INDIA’S RICHEST WOMAN
Savitri Jindal (73), Chairperson emerita of OP Jindal Group, is the richest woman in India. She has a fortune of $17 billion. Savitri Jindal has also donned the politician’s hat when she was first elected from Hisar Assembly constituency on a Congress ticket in Haryana in 2005, a seat that was earlier represented by her late husband, OP Jindal. She was re-elected to the same seat in 2009. She has held several posts in the Haryana Cabinet as well.
Among other women billionaires, former banker Falguni Nayar continues to retain her title as India’s richest self-made woman billionaire, despite the decline of her shares of FSN E-Commerce Ventures, which owns beauty and fashion startup Nykaa. Her net worth is now $2.6 billion compared to $4.5 billion in 2022, the Forbes report said.
YOUNGEST BILLIONAIRE
The tag of this year’s youngest Indian billionaire in the Forbes list goes to 36-year-old Nikhil Kamath and his older brother Nithin Kamath, the co-founders of discount brokerage Zerodha. While Nikhil’s fortunes are worth $1.1 billion, Nithin’s is worth $2.7 billion.
It must be mentioned here that Gautam Adani’s brother Vinod Adani (who holds a Cyprus passport) has also made it to Forbes for the first time. He has a net worth of nearly $10 billion.
OLDEST BILLIONAIRE
Keshub Mahindra, Chairman emeritus of Mahindra & Mahindra, made a comeback to the Forbes list and is the oldest Indian billionaire. The 99-year-old’s fortunes are worth $1.2 billion.
THOSE WHO MISSED OUT
The names of 23 people are not in this year’s Forbes list. Among them are PayTM Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, whose parent company, One 97 Communications, has witnessed losses in shares since its IPO in 2021.
Another prominent person who failed to make the cut is Anil Agarwal, Chairman of Vedanta Resources Limited, who is weighed down by debt, according to Forbe
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