Mukesh Ambani Tops Forbes 2024 Rich List as India's Wealth Exceeds $1 Trillion

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, tops Forbes's 2024 list of India's 100 richest tycoons with a net worth of $119.5 billion, up by a massive $27.5 billion over the last year. This puts him at the top of the list not only as the wealthiest individual in India but also as the 13th richest person in the world. Ambani recently hogged the headlines announcing bonus shares to Reliance investors as Diwali gifts by celebrating the achievements of his younger son, Anant.

The dollar gainer who rose the most came from the stables of Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group. He added $48 billion to his fortune, taking his net worth to $116 billion. Adani is making a strong comeback after last year's meltdown over short-selling by Hindenburg Research. All his strategic maneuvering in positioning family members in key positions within his business has paid off richly.

India's richest people have experienced a historic moment in 2024, as their combined wealth reached over one trillion dollars for the first time and topped out at $1.1 trillion. This represents an increase of 40% from last year at $799 billion, largely on the back of good performance in equity markets, where the BSE Sensex rose 30% during the year. More than 80% of those on the list are wealthier. In fact, 58 individuals added $1 billion or more to their respective net worths. Savitri Jindal, matriarch of the O.P. Jindal Group, came in third place for the first time with a net worth of $43.7 billion, or $19.7 billion more than the previous year. Her son, Sajjan Jindal, has also made ambitious moves into the electric vehicle market with MG Motor, further boosting the family's profile. Coming in fourth place is tech leader Shiv Nadar, whose net worth is $40.2 billion; he is joined by Jindal and others as one of six tycoons who have added more than $10 billion to their wealth.

The pharma space also saw significant gains. Sun Pharmaceutical Industries has founder Dilip Shanghvi climbing to the fifth position with net worth at $32.4 billion, doubled from last year's $19 billion. The siblings Sudhir and Samir Mehta of Torrent Pharmaceuticals also had their wealth more than double to reach $16.3 billion, as the company investigates possible acquisitions in the space.

Naazneen Karmali, Asia Wealth Editor and India Editor of Forbes Asia, says about the trends: "India's surging equity markets have created a windfall for the country's tycoons, and many of them have reached new peaks in terms of their fortunes. Investor euphoria for the India story has helped power that stellar increase in wealth, as the collective assets of India's 100 Richest hit a trillion-dollar mark".

Four new entrepreneurs have been added to the 2024 Forbes list: B Partha Saradhi Reddy, the founder of vaccine maker Hetero Labs, which has placed him at 81st position with his $3.95 billion net worth. At no. 100 with $3.3 billion is Mahima Datla whose controlling stake in the vaccine maker Biological E translates into a fortune of about $3.3 billion. Harish Ahuja has made it to the list due to his Shahi Exports supplies to top global labels, and Surender Saluja who founded Premier Energies, has also made it to the list.

The Godrej family, whose shares are split in a factional dispute, appears on the list two separate ways for the first time this year. More significantly, the cut-off to make the list grew to $3.3 billion from $2.3 billion, pushing 11 billionaires off the list for the 2024 ranking. Overall, the Forbes 2024 India ranking puts forth the considerable wealth growth and optimism underway in that economy.