nwasianweekly.com
Mar. 29, 2008
Four Indians in top 10 billionaires list
Five Asians total in top 10 of Forbe’s annual rankings
#4 Lakshmi Mittal
Age: 57
Fortune: inherited and growing
Source: steel
Net worth: $45 billion
Citizenship: India
Residence: London
Industry: manufacturing
Marital status: married, 2 children
Education:
St Xavier’s
College
Calcutta, Bachelor of Arts/Science
Mittal heads the world’s largest steelmaker, ArcelorMittal, which accounts for 10 percent of all crude steel production. ArcelorMittal just delivered 580 tons to be used in the construction of the World Trade Center memorial in New York. With 44 percent stake, he is the company’s largest shareholder. The longtime resident of London is Europe’s richest resident.
#5 Mukesh Ambani
Age: 50
Fortune: inherited and growing
Source:
petrochemicals
Net worth: $43 billionCitizenship: India
Residence: Mumbai, India
Industry: manufacturing
Marital status: married, 3 children
Education: University of Bombay,
Bachelor of Chemical Engineering;
Stanford University, Master of Business Administration
Asia’s richest resident heads petrochemicals giant Reliance Industries. His fortune is up $22.9 billion since last year, making him the world’s second biggest gainer in terms of dollars. The biggest gainer was his estranged brother Anil, number six on the list. The sons inherited their fortune from their late father, renowned industrialist Dhirubhai Ambani. But they couldn’t get along, and in 2005 their mother brokered a peace settlement, breaking up the family’s assets.
#6 Anil Ambani
Age: 48
Fortune: inherited
Source: diversified
Net worth: $42 billion
Citizenship: India Residence: Mumbai, India
Industry: diversified
Marital status: married, 2 children
Education: University of Bombay,
Bachelor of Arts/Science; University of Pennsylvania Wharton School, Master of Business Administration
The year’s biggest gainer, Anil Ambani, is up $23.8 billion in the past year, and is closing the gap with his estranged brother, Mukesh. A marathon runner, his biggest asset is his 65 percent stake in telecom venture Reliance Communications.
#7 K.P. Singh
Age: 76
Fortune: inherited and growing
Source: real estate
Net worth: $30 billion
Citizenship: India
Residence: Delhi, India
Industry: real estate
Marital Status: married, 3 children
Education: NA
Singh is now the world’s richest real estate baron after listing his real estate development company DLF in 2007. A former army officer, he joined his father-in-law’s Delhi Land & Finance in 1961. Singh later built DLF City, his showpiece township on the outskirts of Delhi, by acquiring land from farmers. A keen golfer, he now leaves son Rajiv and daughter Pia to run operations.
#11 Li Ka-shing
Age: 79
Fortune: self-made
Source: diversified
Net worth: $26.5 billion
Citizenship:
Hong Kong
Residence: Hong Kong
Industry: diversified
Marital Status: widowed, 2 children
Education: High School, dropped out
Li got his start selling plastic flowers in Hong Kong in the 1950s. Now Hong Kong’s richest person, his fortune is centered on conglomerates Cheung Kong and Hutchison Whampoa. He has announced plans to donate one-third of his wealth over time. Eldest son Victor helps him run his massive empire; son Richard struck out on his own in the early 1990s and is a billionaire in his own right.
Figures and biographies from Forbes.com
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