Mukesh pips L N Mittal to become richest Indian

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Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani has overtaken NRI steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal as the richest Indian in the world, with a net worth of $20.8bn, Forbes said in its annual rich list for the country.

Mittal, who has moved to second position with a net worth of $20.5bn, is followed by Mukesh's younger brother Anil Ambani, whose wealth stood at $12.5bn.

Telecom czar Sunil Mittal and realtor K P Singh are ranked fourth and fifth with net worth of $7.9bn and $7.8bn, respectively.

The magazine said that the combined net worth of India's 40 richest has declined by 60% due to weak stock markets amid depreciating rupee against the greenback.

Their total wealth is now $139bn, down from $351bn just a year ago, according to Forbes India Rich List.

"These are painful times for India's tycoons. The country's once soaring stock market fell 48% the past year, the rupee depreciated 24% against the dollar, and GDP growth is expected to slow by at least a percentage point, in part owing to double-digit inflation," Forbes Asia said in a statement.

While all 40 tycoons listed last year were billionaires, only 27 have 10-figure net worths now. A net worth of 760 million dollar was needed to make to the list this year, 840 million dollar less than last year.

The Ruia brothers were ranked at sixth position with a net worth of $7.6bn, followed by Wipro Chairman Aziz Premji, worth $7bn.

The magazine states that the combined net worth of brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh increased by $550m, thereby grabbing 13th place on the list.

Their combined net worth stood at $2.8bn after they sold their stake in Ranbaxy Laboratories to Daiichi Sankyo.

The list says the major loser was property tycoon Ramesh Chandra, whose net worth dropped by 91% to $1bn.

Among the new entrants in the list are retailer Micky Jagtiani at 16th position with a net worth of $2bn, followed by Divi's Laboratories' founder Murali Divi at 36th place with a net worth of $870m. Also Akruti City's Hemant Shah stood at 37th place with a wealth of $830m.

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Education

Mukesh Ambani was educated at abaay morischa school in Mumbai and completed his graduation with a bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from the UDCT. Mukesh later pursued an MBA from Stanford University.

Career

Mukesh Ambani joined Reliance in 1981 and initiated Reliance's backward integration from textiles into polyester fibres and further into petrochemicals. In this process, he directed the creation of 60 new, world-class manufacturing facilities involving diverse technologies that have raised Reliance's manufacturing capacities from less than a million tonnes to twelve million tonnes per year.

He directed and led the creation of the world's largest grassroots petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, Gujarat, India, with a present capacity of 660,000 barrels per day (105,000 m³/d) (33 million tonnes per year) integrated with petrochemicals, power generation, port and related infrastructure, at an investment of Rs 100000 crore (nearly $26 billion USD).

Mukesh Ambani set up one of the largest telecommunications companies in India in the form of Reliance Communications (formerly Reliance Infocom) Limited. However, Reliance Infocom now is under Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group post the brothers' split. Had the two brothers not split, and Mukesh being the president , his net worth would have been around $85 billion. Under Ambani's leadership, Reliance has entered retail business through its wholly owned subsidiary Reliance Retail.

Under him Reliance Retail has also launched a new chain called Delight stores and also signed a letter of intent with NOVA Chemicals to make energy-efficient structures for Reliance Retail.

Ambani owns the Indian Premier League team Mumbai Indians. He has also set up the Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai.

Family

Mukesh Ambani is son of one of the most prominent businessmen in India, the late Dhirubhai Ambani, an Indian entrepreneur and founder of Reliance Industries.

His brother Anil Ambani heads Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group with interests in telecom, power, natural resources, infrastructure and financial services. The Ambani brothers had a well-publicized spat after their father's death, which led to the Reliance Group being split between the two.

Mukesh Ambani is married to Nita Ambani, who looks after the social and charitable arm of Reliance Industries. They have three children: Akash, Isha and Anant.

Mukesh Ambani is currently building the world's most expensive home (valued at $2 billion).[1] This will be a 60-story skyscraper (with only 27 floors) in downtown Mumbai. It may be called Antilia.

His family belongs to Modh Bania, a trading community in Gujarat, a coastal province of India. His mother is Kokilaben Ambani.

Achievements

* Chosen the businessman of the year 2007 by a public poll in India conducted by NDTV
* Conferred the United States-India Business Council (USIBC) leadership award for "Global Vision" 2007 in Washington.

* Ranked 42nd among the World's Most Respected Business Leaders and second among the four Indian CEOs featured in a survey conducted by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and published in Financial Times, London, November 2004.

* Conferred the World Communication Award for the Most Influential Person in Telecommunications in 2004 by Total Telecom, October, 2004.

* Chosen Telecom Man of the Year 2004 by Voice and Data magazine, September 2004.

* Ranked 13th in Asia's Power 25 list of The Most Powerful People in Business published by Fortune magazine, August 2004.

* Conferred the Asia Society Leadership Award by the Asia Society, Washington D.C., USA, May 2004.

* Ranked No.1 for the second consecutive year, in The Power List 2004 published by India Today, March 2004.

* Recorded as the first Trillionaire in India, June 2007.

* Awarded the "Chitralekha Person of the Year Award -- 2007" by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi