Adani lost $28 billion in 2022-23; Rekha Jhunjhunwala among 16 new billionaires: Hurun Rich List

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani, who is at the centre of controversy following Hindenburg Research’s allegation of stock manipulation and accounting fraud, lost $28 billion in wealth, or Rs 3,000 crore a week in 2022-23, and slipped to the second position in India’s richest person list, as per Hurun Global rich list released on Wednesday.

Reliance Industries Limited chairman Mukesh Ambani has regained the position of richest Indian. Ambani’s wealth declined by 20 per cent year-on-year to $82 billion. Despite a significant decline in wealth, Ambani has acquired the position of richest Asian. He is the only Indian to feature in the list of the top 10 billionaires in the world. Ambani is ranked at 9th position globally.

Adani, who was the world’s second richest person before the release of the Hindenburg Research report in January this year, has slipped to the 23rd position in the global billionaire list. Adani’s wealth is pegged at $53 billion. His wealth has dipped by around 60 per cent from its peak.

Also Read | Mukesh Ambani the world's 9th richest person; Gautam Adani now 23rd

With a wealth of $27 billion, Cyrus Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India is the third richest person in India. Poonawalla is the only person among the top 10 richest billionaires in India whose wealth increased during the year. He is the richest healthcare billionaire in the world.

Poonawalla’s wealth jumped by 4 per cent during the year. Despite a sharp drop in the wealth of fellow billionaires, Poonawalla made gains helped by bumper profits from Covid-19 vaccines. Poonawalla's unlisted company Serum Institute of India has emerged as the world's largest vaccine manufacturer.

The richest new entrant from India, Rekha Rakesh Jhunjhunwala & family, tops the list of top 16 new Indian entrants in 2023 M3M Hurun Global Rich List. After the death of ace investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, who was often referred to as India's Warren Buffett, his wife Rekha Jhunjhunwala inherited his stock portfolios.

With a wealth of $26 billion, Shiv Nadar & family of HCL Technologies, is ranked fourth in 2023 Hurun Global rich list. Shiv Nadar & family is ranked at 50th position globally.

With a donation of Rs 1,161 crore Shiv Nadar reclaimed the “India’s most generous title” according to Hurun India Philanthropy List 2022. Shiv Nadar has committed more than $1 billion to philanthropy.

Lakshmi N Mittal of ArcelorMittal is the wealthiest Indian immigrant. With a wealth of $25 billion, Mittal is ranked as the fifth richest Indian and acquired the 76th position globally.

In terms of the number of billionaires who have added $1 billion or more over the last year, India occupies sixth rank in 2023. Eight Indians added $1 billion or more in their wealth during the year.

In stark contrast to the 2022 Hurun Global Rich List, India is at the top of the league table when it comes to wealth depletion. When countries such as China and USA had 178 and 123 billionaires respectively, who lost more than $1 billion, India has 41 billionaires who lost more than a billion-dollar YoY in 2023.

In 2023 Hurun Global Rich List added 176 new faces, from 18 industries and 99 cities. India added 16 billionaires and occupied the third spot, comfortably ahead of Italy which added 9 billionaires to this year’s list.

Over the last 5 years, Indian billionaires added $360 billion to their cumulative wealth. This is equivalent to Hong Kong’s GDP.

The Hurun Global Rich List 2023 ranked 3,112 billionaires, down from 3,384 last year, from 2,356 companies and 69 countries. The number of billionaires dropped by 8 per cent and their total wealth dropped by 10 per cent compared with last year. 1,078 saw their wealth increase, of which 176 were new faces. 2,479 saw their wealth decrease or stay the same, of which 445 dropped off. The average age of a billionaire was 66.

Over the last five years, India’s contribution to the global billionaire population has been steadily increasing. Currently, India contributes 8 per cent of the total global billionaire population compared to 4.9 per cent five years ago. In terms of the number of billionaires, China is almost 5 times bigger than India.