Mukesh Ambani gains, Gautam Adani takes a hit in comeback year for richie rich

A 9 percent gain in RIL stock and Jio Financial's listing made Reliance Industries’ chairman Mukesh Ambani richer by $9.98 billion in 2023, according to data by Bloomberg.

The richest Indian and the 13th richest man in the world's net worth was $97.1 billion this year.

As per the Bloomberg data, the collective net worth of the 500 richest individuals surged by $1.5 trillion in 2023, recouping from the $1.4 trillion loss in the previous year. It was a comeback year for the richie rich.

Elon Musk won back the title of world’s richest person from French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault. The Tesla boss made $95.4 billion, bolstered by the success of Tesla and SpaceX, after losing $138 billion in 2022. His net worth is now more than $50 billion above Arnault’s after a global slowdown in demand for luxury goods dented shares of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE.

Gautam Adani, the second richest Indian, lost $37.3 billion this year after the Hindenburg hit. His net worth stands at $83.2 billion, a 31 per cent slide, according to the Index. The infrastructure tycoon took a $21-billion impact in January alone.

Apart from Adani, D-Mart's Radhakishan Damani was the only other Indian who saw a dip in wealth, losing $187 million. Avenue Supermarts (parent company of D-Mart) shares were flat in 2023.

Other prominent Indian names in the list include HCL Tech founder Shiv Nadar who made $9.47 billion this year to reach $34 billion in a headwind year for the IT sector. HCL Tech shares saw a 41 percent jump this year.

India's richest woman, Savitri Jindal, the former Chairperson of OP Jindal Group, added $8.93 billion putting her in the top 3. Jindal's total net worth stands at $24.7 billion.

Aditya Birla Group’s Kumar Mangalam Birla added $7.09 billion, Sun Pharma’s Dilip Shanghvi $5.26 billion and Airtel’s Sunil Mittal added $3.62 billion in 2023.