Mukesh Ambani Tops Hurun India Rich list 2020
Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Indian for the ninth consecutive year on the Hurun India Rich list 2020 with Rs 6,58,400 crore of personal wealth, most of which is derived from his stake in Reliance Industries. He is the only Indian to feature among the top 5 on the global rich list by The Wealth Generating.
The Hurun India list names the richest individuals in the country having a wealth of Rs 1,000 crore or more as of August 31, 2020. In the 2020 edition, the list had 828 Indians.
London-based Hinduja brothers (SP Hinduja, along with his three brothers) with a joint wealth of Rs 1,43,700 crore bagged the second position. HCL Founder Shiv Nadar with a wealth of Rs 1,41,700 crore ranked third, followed by Gautam Adani & family at fourth spot and Wipro NSE 0.69 %’s Azim Premji at fifth spot.
Radhakishan Damani, Founder of Avenue Supermarts, debuted on the list of top 10 wealthiest individuals on the Hurun India Rich List 2020, at the seventh place.
Other names in the Top 10 list included Cyrus S Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India, Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharma, and Cyrus Pallonji Mistry and Shapoorji Pallonji Mistry of Shapoorji Pallonji Group.
The cumulative value of the 828 individuals on the list stood at $821 billion (Rs 60,59,500 crore), an increase of $140 billion (Rs 10,29,400 cr) over the 2019 count, a large part of which was due to the rise in the share price of Reliance Industries.
“Twenty-eight percent of the upswing in wealth on the list has been brought in by Mukesh Ambani, bespeaking Ambani’s meteoric success post diversifying from oil to telecom and retail. A further 21% of the additional wealth has been generated by the pharma sector, mainly on the back of a rise in healthcare spends and a realigned priority towards personal healthcare stimulated by the Covid-19,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD, and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.
Smitha V Crishna, the third-generation heir of the Godrej Empire, ranks as the richest woman in the list followed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw.
Nearly 5 percent of the list (40 individuals) are women; and 10 of them are self-made. The personal wealth of Crishna stood at Rs 32,400 crore and that of Shaw at Rs 31,600 crore, who is also the richest self-made woman in India.
Thanks to the stellar IPO of Happiest Minds, its 77-year-old Founder Ashok Soota also debuted on the list with a wealth of Rs 3,700 crore.
“Assuming that for every one Hurun rich lister we have found, we have probably missed two, it is likely that India today has 2,000 individuals with Rs 1,000 crore or more wealth,” Junaid said.
All three founders of B2B startup Udaan became the highest gainers in terms of wealth since the 2019 edition – with an increase of 274 percent in wealth for each one. Chigurupati Krishna Prasad (65) of Granules India recorded a 218 percent jump in his wealth to Rs 3,500 crore.
With Rs 4,500 crore wealth, Ritesh Agarwal (26) of Oyo Rooms is the youngest person on the list while with Rs 5,400 crore wealth, Dharam Pal Gulati (96) of MDH is the oldest.
India’s billionaire club is expanding with disruptive businesses boosting entrepreneurial spirit. Software services to paint industry individuals have figured across the industries.
Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries NSE 1.42 %, who has been topping the rich list since it was launched in 2012, has retained the position as the richest Indian with a net worth of Rs 371,000 crore.
“Ambani’s wealth is more than the combined wealth of the next three on the list. His wealth increased by Rs 300 crore a day over the past year. The successful launch of Jio, backed by above-average margins maintained by RIL’s petrochemical business, tripled with a successful retail business foray has resulted in RIL’s share price increasing by more than 47%,” the report said.
With 831 members, the list has increased by a third since 2017 and almost eight times since 2012, said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD, and chief researcher, Hurun Report India.
Pharmaceuticals dominated with 13.7% of individuals on the list followed by software services and FMCG entrepreneurs at 7.9% and 6.4%, respectively, whereas industries such as jewelry, media, and aviation have suffered setbacks in the last year.
“Wealth creation in India is growing at an unprecedented pace and the time taken to accumulate wealth is shorter than ever before,” said Satya Narayan Bansal, CEO, Barclays Private Clients, who was present at the unveiling of the report.