Reliance Industries chairperson Mukesh Ambani remained the richest Indian for the 12th consecutive year, with a net worth of $51.4 billion (Rs 3.65 lakh crore), according to the latest list by Forbes India. Industrialist Gautam Adani made the highest jump in the top 10, rising from the 10th spot to the second, with a net worth of $15.7 billion.
Ambani added $4.1 billion to his wealth since last year, while Adani added $3.8 billion.
Wipro founder Azim Premji lost his second spot after his decision to give away a huge chunk of his money to philanthropy. Premji was ranked 17th this year, with his net worth now estimated at $7.2 billion (Rs 51,156 crore), compared to $21 billion in 2018. In March, Premji had decided to give away 34% of his shares in the company, worth $7.5 billion, to philanthropy.
At the third place were the Hinduja brothers, with $15.6 billion of net worth, followed by Pallonji Mistry, Uday Kotak, Shiv Nadar, Radhakishan Damani, the Godrej family, Lakshmi Mittal and Kumar Mangalam Birla.
The total wealth of this year’s top 100 shrank 8% from the previous year, to $452 billion, Forbes said. Premji accounted for more than a third of that decline.
The list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and India’s regulatory agencies.
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