Happiest Minds IPO propels Ashok Soota to join Hurun India Rich List 2020

Ashok Soota, founder of newly listed Happiest Minds Technologies Ltd., has made a debut in 2020 edition of IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List, which compiles the richest individuals in India with wealth of Rs 1,000 crore or more. With net worth of Rs 3,700 crore, Soota has joined the elite group which includes Asia's richest man Mukesh Ambani. 

The robust initial public offering (IPO) of Happiest Minds has given Soota a net worth of Rs 3,700 crore, who raised Rs 140 crore by selling part of his stake in the company. The Happiest Minds' shares, which were sold in a price band of Rs 165-166 apiece, were oversubscribed more than 150 times. The firm raised Rs 702 crore at the upper end of the IPO price band. Promoter Ashok Soota sold 8,414,223 equity shares through the offer-for-sale route.

As per the latest IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020, Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries, has topped the list of richest Indians for the ninth consecutive year, with a net worth of Rs 6,58,400 crore. Ambani earned Rs 90 crore every hour since the March lockdown imposed to contain the spread of coronavirus. His total wealth surged by 73 per cent or by Rs 2,77,700 crore to Rs 6,58,400 crore in the last 12 months, propelling him to become the richest individual in Asia and fourth richest person in the world.

Meanwhile, Radhakishan Damani, the founder of Avenue Supermarts, debuted in the top 10 wealthiest individuals ranking at seven with a net worth of Rs 87,200 crore, registering a growth of 56 per cent in the last one year.

With a wealth of Rs 4,500 crore, Ritesh Agarwal (26) of Oyo Rooms is the youngest person on the list and with a wealth of Rs 5,400 Crore, Dharam Pal Gulati (96) of MDH is the oldest on the list.

As per Hurun India Rich List, the number of Indians having a net worth of more than Rs 1,000 crore has declined to 828 this year as compared to 953 last year and 831 in 2018.  The number of billionaires in terms of US dollar, however, increased to 179 from 138 last year. Cumulative wealth for this year increased by 20 per cent compared to that of last year while average wealth increased by 9 per cent. As many as 674 individuals saw their wealth increase, of which 162 were new entrants, the report said.

Also Read: Mukesh Ambani earned Rs 90 crore per hour since lockdown, total wealth Rs 6.6 lakh crore: Hurun List

Also Read: Happiest Minds 8th most successful IPO in a decade