Mukesh Ambani, 65, of Reliance Industries Limited saw a dip in his fortunes as his wealth fell 20 per cent to $82 billion during this period. 
Special 
Mukesh Ambani, 65, of Reliance Industries Limited saw a dip in his fortunes as his wealth fell 20 per cent to $82 billion during this period. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), is the only Indian in the world's top 10 billionaires list, according to the latest Hurun Global Rich List. With a total wealth of $82 billion, Mukesh Ambani, 66, has surpassed Gautam Adani, 61.
Adani, who lost $28 billion in wealth, or Rs 3,000 crore a week in 2022-2023 due to the scathing Hindenburg report, slipped to the second spot among Indian billionaires and had a net worth of $53 billion. Mukesh Ambani too saw a dip in his fortunes as his wealth fell 20 per cent to $82 billion during this period.
Other Indian billionaires on the list are Cyrus Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India, who is in the third spot with $27 billion net worth. Shiv Nadar and family ranked fourth with a net worth of $26 billion, followed by Lakshmi Mittal at fifth with $20 billion.
Indian billionaires list
> Mukesh Ambani (Global rank 9)
> Gautam Adani and family (Global rank 23)
> Cyrus S Poonawalla (Global rank 46)
> Shiv Nadar and family (Global rank 50)
> Lakshmi N Mittal (Global rank 76)
Top billionaires in the world
According to the Hurun list, the number of billionaires dropped to 3,112 in 2023 as compared to 3,384 in the previous corresponding period. The report stated that this would reverse and accelerate in the long-run once the equity markets stage a recovery.
The report noted that the number of billionaires dropped by 8 per cent and their total wealth dropped by 10 per cent as compared with 2022. Around 1,078 billionaires saw their wealth increase, of which 176 were new faces. About 2,479 saw their wealth decrease or stay the same.
Among the top billionaires, Jeff Bezos of Amazon saw her wealth deplete by $70 billion in 2023 to $118 billion, followed by Tesla's Elon Musk, who saw his fortunes dip by $48 billion to $157 billion.
Biggest losers in 2023 (in US$)
| Billionaire | Wealth change | Wealth |
| Jeff Bezos | -$70 billion | $118 billion |
| Elon Musk | -$48 billion | $157 billion |
| Sergey Brin | -$44 billion | $72 billion |
| Larry Page | -$41 billion | $75 billion |
| Mackenzie Scott | -$35 billion | $26 billion |
| Gautam Adani | -$28 billion | $53 billion |
| Mukesh Ambani | -$21 billion | $82 billion |
| Zeng Yuqun | -$17 billion | $35 billion |
Anas Rahman Junaid, managing director and chief researcher, Hurun India said thesharp drop in wealth of billionaires across the globe is due to a host of reasons, which include rising inflation, rate hikes by the global central banks and the strengthening dollar.
"Russia-Ukraine war, developments in China, rising inflation and the response of global central banks, crypto collapse and ‘funding winter’ are some of the key reasons that impacted sentiment. All this had an impact on the stock market and in turn on the fortunes of the promoters. The top 4 billionaires in the US (Jeff Bezos, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Elon Musk) have lost a combined $200 billion in wealth in 2022-23, which is more than what all Indian billionaires put together have lost during this period," Junaid added.
Newest billionaires in India
According to the 2023 M3M Hurun Global Rich List, there are about 176 new faces from 18 industries and 99 cities. India added 16 billionaires and occupied the third spot, much ahead of Italy which added 9 billionaires in this year’s list.
Over the last five years, Indian billionaires in the 2023 M3M Hurun Global rich list added circa US $361 billion to their cumulative wealth – this is equivalent to Hong Kong’s GDP.
In India, the newest entrant is Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala and family, who head the Rare Enterprises.
Besides the report noted Poonawalla is the richest healthcare billionaire in the world, Ashwini Dani and family is the richest paint entrepreneur in the world.
Rakesh Gangwal and Rahul Bhatia and family of IndiGo airlines are the wealthiest aviation billionaires.
Byju Raveendran and family, with $3.3 billion wealth, is the second richest global entrepreneur from the education sector. He has jumped 1,005 ranks in the last three years, the Hurun list highlighted.
Moreover, India also ranks top 10 in terms of the number of billionaires in most of the important global industries. “India needs to catch up on sectors such as Investments and Media and Entertainment,” the release said.
Hurun Report is a research, luxury publishing and events group established in London in 1998. It has presence in India, China, France, the UK, the US, Australia, Japan, Canada and Luxembourg.
Copyright©2025 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today
