Top 12 Retail and Consumer Products Billionaires in India 2017

American business magazine Forbes released its annual list featuring richest people in the world on March 20, 2017. It was a record year for the richest people on earth, as the number of billionaires jumped 13 per cent to 2,043 from 1,810 last year, the first time ever that Forbes has pinned down more than 2,000 ten-figure-fortunes. Their total net worth rose by 18 per cent to $7.67 trillion, also a record.

The change in the number of billionaires — up 233 since the 2016 list — was the biggest in the 31 years that Forbes has been tracking billionaires globally. Out of these, 101 were Indians.

Today, even as retailers in India face the Herculean task of reaching out to the customer through a combination of mobile, social and human connect, we bring to you a list of top Indian billionaires in the retail and consumer products category.

The Forbes Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth taken in 2017 using stock prices and exchange rates from around the world to calculate net worths.

1.Mukesh Ambani



Net worth (as on July 10, 2017): With a net worth of $32.6 billion, Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), is the highest-ranked Indian on the list, at No. 33. (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Businesses: Reliance Fresh, Reliance Super, Reliance Mart, Reliance Market, Reliance Digital, digitalxpress, iStore, RelianceresQ, Reliance Jewels, Reliancefootprint, RelianceLiving, RelianceAutozone, Vimal, V2 Vimal

About him: Mukesh Ambani, the 60-year-old chairman of the oil-to-yarn and retail conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), joined Reliance in 1981 and became its Chairman and Managing Director in 2002. An extreme innovator and believer in game-changing businesses of the future, Ambani is known for challenging conventional wisdom and spotting opportunities quickly. Reliance’s retail arm, Reliance Retail Ltd, is the largest of its kind in India.

2.Micky Jagtiani


Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $4.5 billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: Landmark Group

About him: Middle East retail magnate Micky Jagtiani drove a taxi in London before moving to Bahrain and starting a baby products shop in 1973. He built it into the Dubai-headquarted Landmark Group, which his wife Renuka helps him run. With estimated annual revenue of $6 billion, Landmark has more than 2,200 stores spread across the Middle East, Africa and India.

3. MA Yousuf Ali


Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $4.5 billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: Lulu Group

About him: Gulf-based retailer M A Yousuf Ali chairs the United Arab Emirates-based LuLu Group. With an annual turnover of US $5.5 billion globally, LuLu Group International employs the largest number of Indians outside India. The Group is known for running a retail chain of over 120 hypermarkets, supermarkets and grocery outlets, and a dozen shopping malls, mainly in the Middle East and Asia. Ali also has a hospitality arm Twenty14 Holdings.

Latest Projects: His new projects include a $300 million investment in Trivandrum in South India that will include a mall, hotel and convention center.

4.Nusli Wadia


Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $3.5 billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: Group companies include Britannia Industries, and home textiles maker Bombay Dyeing.

About him: Nusli Wadia is the chairman of the Wadia Group, a cookies-to-aviation empire with roots in shipbuilding.

5. Acharya Balkrishna


Net Worth (as on June 22, 2017): $3 Billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: Patanjali Ayurved

About him: Acharya Balkrishna, the childhood buddy of politically well-connected Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev, makes a debut on the Forbes billionaires ranks thanks to his 97% holding in fast-growing consumer goods outfit Patanjali Ayurved, which they cofounded in 2006. With estimated revenue of $780 million, Patanjali sells everything from herbal toothpastes and cosmetics to noodles and jams.

6.Adi Godrej


Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $2.5 billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Businesses: Godrej Appliances, Nature’s Basket, Home & Personal Care Godrej Expert, Cinthol, Good Knight, HIt, among othes)

About him: A US$4.1 billion (revenues) consumer-goods conglomerate, Godrej Group, chaired by Adi Godrej, is an Indian conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. The group was established by lawyer Ardeshir Godrej, who gave up his profession to make locks in 1897. He launched the world’s first soap product made from vegetable oil in 1918. An MIT grad, Adi returned home to join the family business in 1963 and took charge as chairman in 2000. He took the Group to great heights during the License Raj.

7. RadhaKishan Damani


Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $2.3 billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: DMart

About him: Veteran Mumbai investor Radhakishan Damani, who is also a mentor to billionaire investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, makes his debut buoyed by the recent IPO of his hypermarket chain DMart. He holds stakes in a range of companies, from tobacco firm VST industries to cement maker India Cements. His property portfolio includes the 156-room Radisson Blu Resort in Alibag, a popular beach-front getaway close to Mumbai. Low profile Damani rarely makes appearances at public events and avoids speaking to the press.

8. Harsh Mariwala


Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $1.8 billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: Marico

About him: Harsh Mariwala transformed his family’s traditional business of trading in spices and edible oils, into Marico, among the country’s leading consumer goods companies. Marico, which is best known for its Saffola cooking oil and Parachute hair oil, sells in 25 countries and aspires to be an Indian multinational. His other interests include Kaya, a chain of skin care clinics.

9. Sanjiv Goenka



Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $1.8 Billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: Spencer’s Retail

About him:Sanjiv Goenka controls $2.6 billion (revenue) conglomerate RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, headquartered in Kolkata. Its flagship is 118-year-old power utility, CESC, with 3 million customers. It has expanded beyond its eastern India stronghold with rights to distribute electricity in Rajasthan. Assets include Supermarket chain Spencer’s, which son Shashwat looks after.

10. Rajiv Jaipuriya


Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $1.8 Billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: Pepsico’s Biggest Bottler

About him: Varun Beverages Ltd, the second largest PepsiCo. Inc. bottler in the world is the flagship firm of Delhi-based billionaire Ravi Jaipuria. Varun Beverages is a distributor of PepsiCo. products in north and east India and the largest bottler for the US-based beverage maker in South Asia, with operations in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Globally, it’s the second largest bottler of PepsiCo. beverages, behind only Tingyi Holdings Corp. of China.

11. Radhe Shyam Goenka


Net Worth (as on June 22, 2017): $1.48 Billion (Info Source: Forbes)

About him: Radhe Shyam Goenka co-founded consumer goods firm Emami in 1974 with his best pal Radhe Shyam Agarwal. The $400 million (revenue) maker of health, herbal and beauty products is well-known for such brands as Fair and Handsome, a skin lightening cream for men and celebrity and sports star endorsements for its products.

12. Anand C Burman


Net worth (as on June 22, 2017): $1.4 Billion (Info Source: Forbes)

Retail Business: Dabur

About him: Burman was born in an Indian business family. His father was Ashok Chand Burman chairman emeritus of Dabur. Anand joined his family business Dabur as manager Research and Development department in 1980. He came on the companies board in 1986 and became chairman of Dabur in 2007. Burman family also holds the franchise for Mexican fast-food chain Taco Bell in India and opened its first store, in Delhi, in June.

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India adds 27 new billionaires

India added 27 new billionaires with Mukesh Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), emerging at the top with a personal wealth of $26 billion, according to Hurun Global Rich List 2016.

Cumulative Indian billionaires’ wealth stood at $308 billion, registering a 25 per cent growth over last year. Mr. Ambani, who is ranked 21st globally, was followed by Sun Pharma promoter, Dilip Shanghvi , with personal wealth of $18 billion.

India is home to 111 billionaires and most of them are from Mumbai, according to the report.

“With the launch of new central government schemes, Make in India push and so on, I see an immense potential for wealth creation in India,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, Managing Director, Chief Researcher, Hurun Report India. “I hope India's 2016 budget would simplify tax laws, reduce red tape resulting in an overall increase in transparency.” - India’s e-commerce leaders, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal of Flipkart, with wealth of $1.4 billion, were ranked amongst the 69 billionaires under the age of 40.

Globally, 99 new billionaires were added to the list in 2016 to take the total billionaire rich list to a record of 2,188, 50 per cent more than 2013.

China’s rich

The rich in China overtook their U.S. counterparts to make Beijing, the `billionaire capital of the world’ for the first time, according to Hurun.

In China real estate generated most number of billionaires (117), followed by manufacturing and technology with 94 and 68 respectively.

Led by Beijing, five Chinese cities make the top 10 cities for super wealth creators. Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Hangzhou are home to 100, 64, 50, 46 and 32 billionaires respectively. Average age of the billionaires is 56.

China is the number 1 in the world in terms of generating self-made billionaires akin to “rags to riches,” according to the report.

Total billionaires wealth increased by nine per cent to $7.3 trillion, more than the GDP of Germany and the U.K. combined and coming close to half that of the U.S.

The Hurun Rich list saw 729 individuals’ wealth declining while 102 fell out of last year’s list.

Russian billionaires

Russian billionaires lost $130bn on the back of a further 19 per cent drop in the Russian rouble and with lacklustre performance of mining, metals and energy sector.

Commodity price correction dragged down the wealth of metal & mining billionaires. Lakshmi Mittal, 65, lost US$7bn owing to iron ore price correction of 40 per cent as per IMF commodity price data

Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of Hurun Report, said: “Despite its own slowdown and falling stock markets, China minted more new billionaires than any other country in the world last year, mainly on the back of new listings. Growth in billionaires for the rest of the world was held back by a slowdown in the global economy, the strengthening of the U.S. dollar and the drop in oil prices. The number of billionaires, however, has jumped 50% since 2013.”

Hurun Report on Wednesday released the Hurun Global Rich List 2016, a ranking of the US dollar billionaires currently found in the world.

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India’s ultra rich lose Rs 47,000 cr in Jan

India’s ultra rich, barring Dilip Shanghvi, Sun Pharmaceuticals founder, have borne the brunt of the equity market slowdown, losing Rs 47,000 crore or about $7 billion between them in January alone, according to Bloomberg ’s Billionaire rich list.

Mr Shanghvi, who added $489 million to his personal wealth to Rs 16.9 billion, became the second-richest Indian after Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani.

Only last year, Mr Shanghvi had seen a $926-million erosion in his wealth, but the buoyancy in the pharma sector helped him recover.

Mr Ambani, on the other hand, lost $144.6 million in January, but is still the fourth-richest Asian billionaire, with a global ranking of 31.

Pune-based Cyrus Poonawala, promoter of the closely-held Serum Institute of India, saw his wealth fall by $1.4 billion to $8.7 billion in January. After he had added $4.9 billion to his wealth last year, doubling it to $10.2 billion.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani become poorer by $959 million to $4.5 billion, but is ahead of Eicher Motors promoter Vikram Lal, who saw a $161-million erosion in his wealth to $3.7 billion. Mr Lal has overtaken Pankaj Patel of Cadila Pharma and Benu Gopal Bangur of Shree Cement.

Pallonji Shapoorji Mistry, promoter of Shapoorji Paloonji Group, lost $919 million, taking his wealth to $13 billion as growth in the real estate sector continued to be subdued. In 2015, he had lost $1.98 billion.

Steel baron Laxmi Niwas Mittal, promoter of Arcelormittal, continued to see erosion in his wealth with global steel prices falling on the back of lower demand and Chinese dumping. Mr Mittal lost $556 million in January, taking his wealth to $8.8 billion. He had become poorer by $4.6 billion to $9.5 billion in 2015. However, Mr Mittal overtook Mr Poonawala as the sixth richest Indian, with the latter seeing a faster erosion in his wealth.

Dubai-based Micky Jagtiani, promoter of Landmark Group, continued to see erosion in his wealth to $5.5 billion in January, becoming $268 million poorer. However, Mr Jagatiani improved his ranking to become the ninth richest Indian.

Desh Bandhu Gupta of Mumbai-based Lupin Ltd, who added $1.1 billion to his wealth last year, became poorer by $534 million in January , slipping to the 10th slot.

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Premji most generous Indian, Mukesh ranks sixth

Azim Premji, 70, chairman of Wipro, is the most generous Indian of the year for the third time in a row with donations worth Rs. 27,514 crore to the education sector, says Hurun India Philanthropy List 2015.

The top five contributors on the list belonged to the information technology industry. Mr. Premji is followed by Nandan Nilekani and wife, Rohini Nilekani, with donations of Rs. 2,404 crore, while Infosys co-founder N.R. Narayana Murthy stood third with donations of Rs. 1,322 crore.

The Azim Premji foundation works in the education sector with operations in eight States and over 3,50,000 schools.

The top five are also the biggest wealth creators on the Hurun India Rich List. The richest Indian, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries (RIL), stood sixth on the philanthropy list with donations of Rs. 345 crore.

K Dinesh, after retiring from Infosys in 2011, has been actively involved in philanthropic ventures in education, entrepreneurship encouragement and health care. With donations of Rs. 1,238 crore, he shot into the top 10 for the first time with fourth rank.

Dinesh is followed by Shiv Nadar, promoter of $6.3 billion HCL Technologies, India’s fourth-largest software company, as he donated Rs. 525 crore to various charitable activities through the Shiv Nadar Foundation. “I had the opportunity to visit Mr. Nadar’s foundation and university. His mission to impart contemporary education in poorest villages sets a good example for practical philanthropy in India”, said Anas Rahman Junaid, Business Head, Hurun Report India.

Mr. Ambani donated Rs. 345 crore towards health care through Reliance Foundation, the philanthropic arm to promote sustainable growth in India. This year only 36 individuals made it to the Hurun India Philanthropy List compared with 50 last year. Rohan Murthy is a good example of the new generation of Indian philanthropists, according to the report.

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