MUMBAI: With as many as 334 billionaires, the country has emerged as the new wealth creator in Asia, adding a new billionaire every fifth day in 2023, according to the Hurun Rich List 2024.
The list also saw Hindi film actor Shah Rukh Khan making the list with a wealth of Rs 7,300 crore and Mukesh Ambani losing the long-held crown as the richest national to his Gujarati counterpart Gautam Adani.
The Hurun rich list has found 1,539 people with Rs 1,000 crore or more wealth, adding 272 names to the total list. The country’s billionaire count has reached 334, rising by 29 per cent from the previous year.
With 17 entrants to the list, Hyderabad has overtaken Bengaluru to occupy the third spot on the list, with Mumbai and New Delhi taking the top two slots in terms of new additions.
The Razorpay founders Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar are the youngest billionaires on the list, both at 33, while the youngest entrant to the list is the 21-year-old Kaivalya Vohra of Zepto, with his co-founder Aadit Palicha second youngest at 22. The 2024 list boasts 11 people born in the 90s.
At 58, Shah Rukh Khan has made it to the rich list with a wealth of Rs 7,300 crore, powered by his stakes in the IPL team Kolkata Knight Riders and production company Red Chillies Entertainment.
The Hurun India founder and chief researcher Anas Rahman Junaid said the country is emerging as the wealth creation engine of Asia.
"While China saw a 25 per cent decline in the number of billionaires, India saw a 29 per cent increase, reaching 334 billionaires," he said.
Adani and family have topped the 2024 rich list, as they saw a 95 per cent increase in their wealth, bringing their total to Rs 1,161,800 crore.
This was natural as his wealth was eroded over 80 per cent after the New York-based short-seller firm Hindenburg levelled a slew of allegations against his company including share price rigging and insider trading. The report published late January 2023 saw the stock of the ten listed group companies losing as much as 80 per cent of their value pre-allegations.
Adani has recorded the highest wealth growth within the top 10 over the past five years, adding Rs 1,021,600 crore, despite the challenges following the report. All Adani group companies saw a significant surge in share prices over the past year.
While Adani Ports rose 98 per cent, Adani Energy, Adani Gas, Adani Transmission, and Adani Power averaged a 76 per cent growth in share price after being whacked by the Hindenburg report.
The rise of the Adanis has ensured that Mukesh Ambani, who has been topping the list for years, lost the crown by a whisker and slipped to the second spot with a wealth of Rs 1,014,700 crore, which was still 25 per cent more than his worth in 2022.
Shiv Nadar and family of HCL Technologies come in third place with a wealth of Rs 3,14,000 crore (37 per cent on-year), followed by the vaccine maker Cyrus S Poonawalla & family of the Serum Institute of India at the fourth position (Rs 280,890 crore, up 4 per cent), and the drug maker Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceutical in the fifth slot with a wealth of Rs 2,49,900 crore, adding 59 per cent more on-year.
With Rs 2,35,200 crore, Kumar Mangalam Birla comes sixth, adding 87 per cent more wealth to himself and his family and jumping three notches, followed by Gopichand Hinduja & family at the seventh slot with Rs 1,92,700 crore, down three notches and adding just 9 percent over the previous year.
At the eighth slot is Radhakishan Damani & family with Rs 1,90,900 crore of wealth, which increased by 33 per cent on-year, followed by Azim Premji & family at Rs 1,90,700 crore, up 24 per cent, and the tenth slot goes to Niraj Bajaj & family with Rs 1,62,800 crore, up 35 per cent on-year.
Over the past five years, six individuals have consistently remained in the top 10 list. Leading the list are the Adanis, the Ambanis, Shiv Nadar, the Poonawallas, Gopichand Hinduja & family, and Radhakishan Damani & family.