No #1 Lakshmi Mittal: The Top Ten Richest Indian
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shahnawazNo #1 Lakshmi Mittal: The Top Ten Richest Indian
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shahnawazThe Top Ten Richest Indian
No #1 Lakshmi Mittal
Age: 55
Net Worth: $ 20.0 billion
Born in a remote village, he got his start when his family moved to
Calcutta and opened a small steel mill. He has a personal stake of 87.4
percent in the $22 billion (2004 sales) Mittal Steel. A double-digit
drop in U.S and European steel prices led to a 64% fall in third-quarter
profits; the past 9 months down only 13%. He recently bought
Ukraine's largest steelmaker in a televised auction. After winning the
battle for rival Arcelor in June last year, the $34 billion merger created
an industry behemoth that now accounts for more than10% of the world’s steel production.
No # 2 Azim Premji
Age: 60
Net Worth: $ 11.0 billion
One of the pioneers of the Indian outsourcing phenomenon, Premji got
his major break in 1978 when IBM pulled out of India. He runs
technology service giant, Wipro, which has been on a buying spree,
picking up firms like Finnish telecom software outfit, Saraware, and
Portuguese retail software group Enabler. He owns 82% of New York-
listed Wipro, India's third-largest software exporter. His clients
include Nokia, Microsoft and Prudential. Wipro lost a few key
executives this year, including Vice Chairman, Vivek Paul. “Bangalore Tiger”, a book on
Wipro’s rise, was published recently. Premji claims that his ancient Ford Escort is his “lucky
car”.
No #3 Mukesh Ambani
Age: 48
Net Worth: $ 7.0 billion
A feud with brother Anil ended this June after their mother brokered a
settlement, which is awaiting court approval. Mukesh will maintain
control of $16 billion (sales) Reliance Industries, the petrochemicals
major whose stock is up more than 40% since the announcement.
Primed for a global footprint in the retail business, Mukesh Ambani’s
Reliance Group is talking to French retail major, Carrefour, and other
global players to acquire a controlling stake and reach out to
international consumers with its basket of Indian food produce.
No #4 Anil Ambani
Age: 46
Net Worth: $ 5.5 billion
After the split with his brother, Anil now runs the newly christened,
Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Enterprises Group, an offshoot of the Reliance empire, with interests in
telecom, energy and financial services. He has been making high-profile acquisitions, mainly in
entertainment and insurance. His was the world’s fastest-growing multi-billion dollar fortune in
percentage terms as his wealth tripled in just one year. Anil is Chairman of Reliance Capital and
Reliance Communication and Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Energy. His
personal stake in Reliance Communication is 66%. He was chosen as the CEO of the Year at the
prestigious Platts Global Energy Awards for 2004.
No #5 Kushal Pal Singh
Age: 74
Net Worth: $ 5.0 billion
Former army officer turned property baron, Kushal Pal Singh joined his father-
in-law's company, Delhi Land & Finance in 1971. He built Gurgaon, his
showpiece township on the outskirts of Delhi, by acquiring chunks of land from
farmers. Today the DLF group, run by son Rajiv, with daughter Pia overseeing
retail projects, is India's biggest real estate developer. The DLF Group has
already developed over 35 million sq. ft. of projects across its three key
businesses of residential, commercial and retail. This group has already
secured/identified close to 250 million sq.ft. of projects for development with ongoing projects
of 100 million sq.ft.
No #6 Sunil Mittal
Age: 48
Net Worth: $ 4.9 billion
Sunil Mittal, Founder, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharati
Group can be labeled as the most ambitious telecom entrepreneur in
India. His rise from a small bicycle business with borrowed capital to
the CMD of Bharati Group was ridden with hurdles. The turning point
came in the year 1992 when the Indian Government was awarding
licenses for mobile telephone services for the first time. One of the
conditions for the Delhi Cellular Service was the bidder had to have
some experience as a telecom operator. Mittal clinched a deal with French telecom operator
Vivendi. Two years later he secured the rights to serve New Delhi. In 1995, Bharati Cellular
Limited was formed to offer cellular services under the brand name AirTel. In 10 years, he has
built the Bharti Group into India's largest mobile phone operator, with 14 million customers.
Vodafone bought a 10% stake in Bharti Televenture, his joint venture with Singtel, for $1.5
billion in October. The group is now partnering with Axa in a new insurance venture.
No #7 Kumar Birla
Age: 38
Net Worth: $ 4.4 billion
Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of AV Birla Group, is scaling up
his international operations. He is the fourth-generation head of $7.6
billion (sales) Aditya Birla Group, a commodities powerhouse named
after his late father. He announced the merger of his fertilizer, finance
and textile companies to create Aditya Birla Nuvo. While the exact
details of his global expansion program are not known, the broad contours include acquiring a
third copper mine in Australia after Nifty and Mount Gordon, putting up a Greenfield acrylic
fiber facility in Egypt, enhancing the Alexandria Carbon Black Operation also in Egypt,
exploring the possibility of making another acquisition in China and pump priming Birla Copper
to global scale in the foreseeable future. Today 30% of the group’s turnover comes from
overseas operations.
No #8 Tulsi Tanti
Age: 47
Net Worth: $ 3.7 billion
Tulsi Tanti is the Chairman of Suzlon Energy Ltd., which deals in
wind energy. He is one of those first time entrepreneurs who saw
potential in an inchoate idea, ventured into it, and made it big. In 1990
Tulsi Tanti invested in two windmills and realized its huge potential.
Faced with escalating power costs, this former textile producer moved
into wind energy a decade ago, eventually building Asia's largest wind
farm and the world’s sixth largest wind energy company. In October
he listed Suzlon Energy, in which he and his three siblings own 70%. The company is expanding
into the U.S., China and Australia.
No #9 Pallonji Mistry
Age: 76
Net Worth: $ 3.3 billion
Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, often described as being media shy, is a
construction tycoon. His employees call him the man with no faults
while his friends call him humble. This secretive construction magnate
is the biggest shareholder in Tata Sons, a holding company that has a
big stake in India's largest software company, Tata Consultancy
Services. Today Pallonji owns 18.35% stake of Tata Sons, while
Ratan Tata himself owns less than a percent. When TCS went public,
Pallonji was the biggest beneficiary, netting more than even the Tata companies. He also owns
direct selling outfit, Eureka Forbes, the subject of a Harvard case study. Now his firm has moved
into road construction and finally at the end of last year he was been given a contract to build a
stadium in Guyana, South America.
No #10 Anurag Dikshit
Age: NA
Net Worth: $ 3.1 billion
The richest man in Gibraltar and the 207th richest on the planet is co-
founder of Party Gambling, the parent company of the world’s leading
online poker site, Partypoker.com. He is one of the youngest
billionaires in the world, owning 30.4% of Internet casino company
PartyGaming, which went public in London in June. He has a degree
in computer science and engineering from the Indian Institute of
Technology in Delhi. In 1998, at age 25, he began working with the
then 1-year-old company. He eventually wrote the betting software that enabled gamblers around
the world to play one another in poker. Today he manages the Gibraltar company's operations.
