India has set a new record with 200 billionaire citizens, whose collective wealth is nearing a trillion dollars at $954 billion, according to the Forbes’World’s Billionaires List 2024 released on Tuesday.
Leading the pack is Mukesh Ambani, who became Asia’s first centi-billionaire with a staggering net worth of $116 billion, securing the 9th position globally. Ambani’s Reliance Industries conglomerate has been on an upswing, inking major deals like an $8.5 billion merger with Walt Disney’s India operations.
Indian women also made a strong showing on the wealthy list. Savitri Jindal, the matriarch of the O.P. Jindal steel and power dynasty, retained her spot as India’s richest woman with $33.5 billion, ranking 4th wealthiest in the country. Newcomer Renuka Jagtiani, who inherited the Middle East’s retail giant Landmark Group, debuted on the list.
Globally, superstar Taylor Swift joined the billionaires club this year, bolstered by her re-recorded album sales and a profitable world tour.
“The most famous newcomer is, of course, Taylor Swift, whose record-breaking, five-continent Eras Tour is the first to surpass $1 billion in revenue,” says a Forbes.com report on the rankings. “The 34-year-old pop star amassed an estimated $1.1 billion fortune, based on earnings from the blockbuster tour, the value of her music catalog and her real estate portfolio. Swift is the first musician to hit ten-figure status solely based on her songs and performances.”
The U.S. “now boasts a record 813 billionaires worth a combined $5.7 trillion. China remains second, with 473 (including Hong Kong) worth $1.7 trillion, despite weak consumer spending and a real estate bust that helped wipe out $200 billion in wealth and knocked 89 billionaires from the ranks. India, which has 200 billionaires (also a record), ranks third,” it says.
Among the other notable new Indian entrants on the Forbes’ World’s Billionaires List 2024 were Naresh Trehan, a cardiac surgeon turned healthcare entrepreneur behind Medanta Hospitals, and Ramesh Kunhikannan, whose tech firm Kaynes Technology supplied systems for India’s historic moon mission. Infrastructure tycoon Virendra Mhaiskar also made a comeback after a 13-year gap, buoyed by the nation’s infrastructure development.
While Indian billionaires mostly dominated, a few fell from the ranks, including former edtech unicorn Byju Raveendran, whose company Byju’s saw its valuation plummet amidst crises.
“Once again, the United States leads the pack, with 67 Americans joining the ranks,” says Forbes.com. “The wealthiest among them is Todd Graves, the founder of fast-food chain Raising Cane’s, whose net worth stands at an estimated $9.1 billion. China maintains the second spot, nearly doubling its number of new billionaires from last year, to 31, despite troubles in the Asian nation. The richest are Maggie Gu, Molly Miao and Ren Xiaoqing (worth an estimated $4.2 billion each), who cofounded the Gen Z fast-fashion giant Shein. India, meanwhile, added 25 new billionaires, including Renuka Jagtiani ($4.8 billion), the chief executive of e-commerce conglomerate Landmark Group, which was founded by her late husband Micky Jagtiani, who died in May 2023,” it says.
The Top Five Of 2024:
1. Bernard Arnault, who oversees the LVMH empire of 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. Net worth: $233 B
2. Elon Musk, Co-founder of six companies, including electric car maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX and tunneling startup Boring Company. Net worth: $195 B
3. Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon, Net Worth: $194 B
4. Mark Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook when he was 19 in 2004. Net Worth: $177 B
5. Larry Ellison, Co-Founder of Oracle. Net Worth: $ 141 B
(With Inputs from AP)
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