India home to third highest no. of billionaires: Forbes
NEW YORK: India has the third highest number of billionaires in the world after the US and China, according to a new list by the prestigious Forbes magazine, which said Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani reclaimed his spot as Asia’s richest person, dethroning Chinese business tycoon Jack Ma who was the richest person in the region a year ago.
Forbes’ 35th annual list of the world’s billionaires is topped by Amazon CEO and founder Jeff Bezos for the fourth year in a row. His net worth is $177 billion, up $64 billion from a year ago as a result of surging Amazon shares, Forbes said.
On the second spot is SpaceX founder Elon Musk, who was the biggest gainer in dollar terms. Musk’s fortune ballooned to $151 billion, a whopping $126.4 billion more than a year ago, when he had ranked 31 and was worth $24.6 billion, it said. “The main reason: a 705% climb in Tesla shares,” the magazine said.
Ambani, the richest person in India and also the wealthiest in Asia, is ranked 10 on the global billionaires’ list. He reclaimed his spot as Asia’s richest person with a net worth of $84.5 billion. Ambani “has become the richest person in Asia, ranked Number 10 and worth an estimated $84.5 billion. He nudges out Jack Ma of China, Asia’s richest person a year ago, whose rank dropped to 26 (from 17 last year) despite a nearly $10 billion jump in his fortune to $48.4 billion,” Forbes said.
Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, the second richest person in India, is ranked 24th on the global list of billionaires with a net worth of $50.5 billion.
Chairman of the Poonawalla Group and founder of Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer, Cyrus Poonawalla is ranked 169th on the list with a net worth of $12.7 billion.
Poonawalla ranks seven on the list of Indian billionaires. Founder of HCL Technologies Shiv Nadar, the third richest person in India, is ranked 71st globally and has a net worth of $23.5 billion.
“The three richest Indians alone have added just over $100 billion between them,” it said.
At 724, the US has more billionaires than any other country in the world (up from 614 last year). China is “closing the gap” with 698 billionaires, up from 456 last year. “As a result of the gains in China, Beijing is home to more billionaires than anywhere in the world, overtaking New York City,” Forbes said.
India has the third highest number of billionaires, with 140, followed by Germany with 136, and Russia with 117.