Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

India's 40 richest businesspeople are worth a collective US$170 billion

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • India's 40 richest businesspeople are worth a collective US$170 billion

    India's rising fortunes are underscored by the increasing prosperity of its wealthiest citizens. Members of our third annual ranking of India's 40 richest businesspeople are worth a collective $170 billion, up from $106 billion last year. India's top ten, worth $112 billion, account for two-thirds of that wealth. The rankings include 36 billionaires, nine more than last year. India's hot stock market, up 39% this year, and its robust real estate market helped swell most fortunes. The minimum net worth needed to make the cut rose to $790 million, up from $590 million.

    Lakshmi Mittal, who lives in London and in June forged a landmark deal to acquire Luxembourg rival Arcelor, remains No. 1, worth $25 billion. Azim Premji, for years India's richest resident, was unseated by Mukesh and Anil Ambani. The two brothers, who split their business empire last year after a much-publicized feud, have found life alone much richer: Mukesh's fortune rose by $11.5 billion, Anil's $9.3 billion. Still the spat continues, with one of Anil's companies recently taking Mukesh's Reliance Industries to court over a gas supply agreement.

    In Pictures: India’s 40 Richest
    Many tycoons have been in the news lately for negotiating big deals. Venugopal Dhoot is set to acquire Daewoo Electronics for $700 million. Commodities magnate Kumar Mangalam Birla paid $1 billion to buy the Tata Group's stake in their telecom joint venture, Idea. Banker Uday Kotak bought out Goldman Sach's (nyse: GS - news - people ) stake in his bank's investment banking and brokerage arms.

    There are five newcomers, including politically connected Kalanithi Maran, who runs regional broadcaster Sun TV; Ramesh Chandra, who made a fortune building middle-class housing; and Jignesh Shah, who set up India's largest commodities exchange. Two others, tractor tycoon Keshub Mahindra and Infosys Technologies (nasdaq: INFY - news - people ) cofounder K. Dinesh, return to the list after having previously slipped off.

    This year's seven dropouts include India's richest self-made woman, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. The stock of her biopharmaceutical firm Biocon dropped 26% in the past 12 months. The list's biggest loser was Anurag Dikshit, No. 29, who saw the stock of his Internet gaming outfit, PartyGaming, tank over regulatory issues.

    Methodology: Unlike Forbes' World Billionaires list, this ranking has been broadened to include family fortunes. For instance, Tulsi Tanti's $5.9 billion fortune represents his family's entire 70% stake in Suzlon Energy, not just his personal 30% stake. For people with fortunes in publicly traded companies, net worths were calculated using Nov. 6 market prices and exchange rates. Privately held companies are valued by coupling estimates of revenues or profits (or, in some cases, company-provided numbers) to prevailing ratios for similar publicly traded companies.
    http://www.forbes.com/lists/2006/77/...hest_land.html
    Attached Files
Working...
X