India now third largest community of billionaires

India’s Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, leads the group of 97 billionaires from his country

Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries, India's richest man. PHOTO: REUTERS

Among countries that are home to the largest number of billionaires, India now ranks third, behind only the US and China.

According to a list compiled by China-based Huran Report, India’s rich have benefitted from a rise in the value of their stock market, while a decrease in wealth among Britons and Russians helped the South Asian country climb the ranking.

India’s Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, led the group of 97 billionaires from his country, while leaving Russia behind with 93 billionaires.


Ambani, the only Indian to make it into the top 50 global list, ranks at 41 with a fortune of $20 billion.

By comparison, Microsoft founder Bill Gates is the richest man on the list with a fortune of $85 billion who is followed by Carlos Slim, the Mexican business tycoon, with $82 billion and Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway’s with $76 billion.

The Huran Report describes 5% of Indian billionaires as “self-made, but with a helping hand from parents”, while 9% “inherited a small business and grew it big time”. However, China had 61% “self-made” billionaires who did not have any financial support from their families, the report said.

This story was curated from Quartz and Wall Street Journal blog India Realtime.
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