Washington: Mukesh Ambani’s net worth has soared to $40.1 billion, making him the richest Indian for the 11th year in a row, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos toppled Bill Gates as the world’s wealthiest person, says Forbes.
According to Forbes’ 2018 ‘World’s Billionaires’ list, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani’s wealth surged a whopping 72.84% to $40.1 billion— highest among the 119 Indian billionaires on the list. Ambani was ranked 19th globally, up from 33rd position in 2017. “Mukesh Ambani chairs and runs $51 billion (revenues) oil and gas giant Reliance Industries, among India’s most valuable companies,” Forbes said.
Bezos, referred to as the “Centi-billionaire”, topped the list with a net worth of $112 billion, becoming the only person to appear in the Forbes list with a 12-figure fortune. “Shares of his e-commerce giant Amazon rose 59% in 12 months, helping boost his fortune by $39.2 billion. It was the biggest one year gain since Forbes started tracking billionaires in 1987,” it said. The Amazon founder moved ahead of Bill Gates, who is now the second richest person globally with a fortune of $90 billion.
According to Forbes, India is home to 119 billionaires, 18 more than last year. This year’s list consists of 2,043 of the richest people in the world. The combined net worth of this elite group is a whopping $9.1 trillion, up 18% since last year. Their average net worth is a record $4.1 billion. Azim Premji is the second richest Indian and was ranked 58th on the overall list with a net worth of $18.8 billion, followed by Lakshmi Mittal (62nd position, net worth of $18.5 billion), Shiv Nadar (98th, $14.6 billion) and Dilip Shanghvi (115th, $12.8 billion).
The 10 richest Indians include Kumar Birla, ranked 127th overall with a fortune of $11.8 billion, Uday Kotak (143, $10.7 billion), Radhakishan Damani (151, $10 billion), Gautam Adani (154, $9.7 billion) and Cyrus Poonawalla (170, $9.1 billion). Acharya Balkrishna, the co-founder of FMCG company Patanjali Ayurved, was ranked 274th on the list with a net worth of $6.3 billion.
