Ambani tops Asia’s richest families list 

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, one of India’s largest conglomerates, has made it to the top of Bloomberg’s list of Asia’s 20 richest families, which was released on Thursday. Ambani and his wife Nita were among the few businesspeople who attended US President Donald Trump’s inauguration ceremony last month.  

Ambani took over the reins of the conglomerate in 2002 after his father, Dhirubhai Ambani, founder of the group, passed away. Since then, Ambani has diversified his business interests – from oil refining he has gone into financial services, retail, technology, renewable energy, and media. Reliance is reportedly planning to build the world’s largest data center in India as it eyes a foray into artificial intelligence. The project will be located in the city of Jamnagar, which also houses Reliance’s extensive refining facilities. 

The businessman unveiled a succession plan for key business segments of Reliance Industries in 2022, identifying his twins Akash and Isha for telecom and retail, and his youngest son Anant for the new energy unit. 

In the ranking, which features six Indian dynasties overall, Ambani is followed by the Mistry family (ranked fourth), boasting a net worth of $37.5 billion. The Mistrys, which control the Shapoorji Pallonji Group, also have a substantial stake in Tata Sons, the holding entity of the Tata Group – one of India’s oldest conglomerates. The family’s business origins date back to 1865 in India, where they initially started in construction before eventually diversifying to include engineering and construction.  

The Jindal family of India ranked seventh on the Bloomberg list, with a net worth of $28.1 billion. The Jindals’ wealth is generated by their diversified conglomerate, the OP Jindal Group, which has interests in energy, cement, and sports. Om Prakash Jindal founded a steel plant in 1952, which eventually expanded into a large conglomerate with interests in steel, energy, and cement. Following his death in 2005, his wife Savitri Jindal took over as chairperson, while their four sons oversee different aspects of the business.  

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Another prominent Indian name, the Birla family, ranks ninth, according to Bloomberg, with a net worth of $23 billion. The family’s business interests, spanning seven generations, include sectors such as metals, cement, and financial services. The Birlas are one of India’s oldest business families, with their roots dating back to the 19th century when they began trading in cotton. Ghanshyam Das Birla (1894-1983), was a key figure in the family who not only contributed to India’s independence movement but also diversified the business into aluminum production. Today, the group is led by Kumar Mangalam Birla, the great-grandson of Ghanshyam Das Birla. 

Since this particular list does not include first-generation businesses, India’s billionaire tycoon Gautam Adani, who is second to Mukesh Ambani in terms of estimated net worth, did not make the list. Adani is facing US charges over an alleged corruption scheme that his group company supposedly ran in India. The group and Adani himself have strongly denied the charges, calling them “baseless.”