At $49 billion, Adani's wealth jumped the most in 2021
Gautam Adani, the second-richest person in India and Asia, increased his wealth by $49 billion last year, according to the 2022 M3M Hurun Global Rich List. This is more than the net addition of wealth by the top three global billionaires Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Bernard Arnault. Adani's net worth rose by 1,830% in the last decade, from $8.8 billion to $81 billion.
Why does this story matter?
Gautam Adani is currently the CEO of the ports-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group, which has 7 companies listed on the Indian share market. He is now the 12th richest person in the world with a net worth of $81 billion, up from 313th a decade ago. In 2021, he added about $6,000 to his net worth every week, while increasing his income by 153%.
Mukesh Ambani remains richest Indian
Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of oil-to-retail conglomerate Reliance Industries, remains the richest Indian, with a fortune of $103 billion, a 24% increase in a year. His wealth witnessed a surge of $20 billion in 2021, while in the last 10 years, it has grown by 400%. According to the list, Ambani's wealth was $45 billion five years ago and $20.5 billion ten years ago.
Who are the other entrepreneurs on the list?
Shiv Nadar of HCL is ranked third ($28 billion), followed by Cyrus Poonawalla of Serum Institute ($26 billion) and steel magnate Lakshmi N Mittal ($25 billion). Radhakishan Damani and SP Hinduja entered the top 100 for the first time, each with a net worth of $23 billion. Falguni Nayar, the founder of Nykaa ($7.6 billion), is the richest newcomer on the list.
Last decade, Indian billionaires added $700 billion to their income
India ranks third in terms of the number of billionaires and billionaires who have added at least a billion dollars to their wealth, said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher at Hurun India. "Over the last 10 years, Indian billionaires added circa $700 billion to their cumulative wealth - this is equivalent to Switzerland's GDP and twice the GDP of UAE!" he said.
India has 8% word's total billionaires
According to Junaid, India now has 18% of the world's population and 8% of the world's billionaires, up from 4.9% five years ago. There are 215 billionaires in India, compared to 1,133 billionaires in China and 716 billionaires in the United States.
