India is home to about 169 billionaires in the world, they are reportedly 1per cent of the population but own more than 40 per cent of India’s wealth. The Forbes list features individuals who make thousands of dollars every minute becoming the richest in the country and the world. These individuals may not be the only ones contributing to the wealth of the family but have family members who contribute to the total wealth of the family. Here we talk about billionaire siblings who have in their own ways carved a niche for themselves in the world of business:
The Ambani siblings
The Ambanis are regarded as the wealthiest of the lot. Mukesh Ambani has a younger brother Anil Ambani, and two sisters Nina Kothari and Dipti Salgaocar who were born to Dhirubhai and Kokilaben Ambani. Mukesh Ambani is the chairman and MD at Reliance Industries, who also owns the telecom services of Jio and Network18 media company. He has a net worth of $98.2 billion, as per Forbes, making him the richest in the country and among the top 10 in the world as of 2023.
According to Forbes, Anil Ambani, the younger sibling of Mukesh Ambani, runs his separate empire that includes financial services, defense, infrastructure, and media. His Reliance Defence has several joint ventures, including with Israel’s Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and France’s Dassault Aviation. As per 2019, his net worth was $1.7 billion but in 2020 according to The Economic Times, he went bankrupt with a net worth of zero.
Deepti unlike her brother has always remained outside the spotlight and maintained a low life. She was close to her late father. Deepti Salgaokar is the vice-chairperson and advisory board member of Sunaparanta, founded by Dattaraj Salgaokar with the intention of preserving Goa’s culture and ethnicity.
Nina Kothari started her journey as an entrepreneur in 2003 when she founded a coffee and food chain called Javagreen. After the untimely demise of her husband, rather than shying away from the challenge, she embraced it and took the helm of the family business, Kothari Sugars and Chemicals Limited and in 2015 she was appointed as the Chairperson.
The Adani brothers
Even though Gautam Adani’s name is the one that we most come across the Adanis are five brothers born to Shantilal Adani and Shantaben Adani. Gautam Adani is chairman of the $32 billion (revenue) Adani Group, with interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission, and green energy, among others, and has a net worth of $58.6 billion.
Vinod Adani who is often regarded as the man behind the empire has a net worth of $15 billion as per Forbes. He is a Dubai-based Indian billionaire businessman.
The other brothers keep themselves separated from the public eye, they are: Vasant S. Adani, Mahasukh Adani, and Rajesh Adani who have their separate ventures.
The Hinduja brothers
Four siblings, Srichand, Gopichand, Prakash, and Ashok, are in charge of the multinational conglomerate the Hinduja Group. The business ranges from trucks, lubricants to banking and media. According to Forbes, the Hinduja brothers have a net worth of $15.2 billion and own valuable real estate in London, including the historic Old War Office building in Whitehall, which will house a Raffles Hotel.
The Ruia brothers
The Ruia siblings: Shashi and Ravi Ruia are based in Mumbai and head the Essar group that deals with shipping, oil refining, infrastructure, and metals and mining. The brothers were once the richest in the country however they saw a fall in their wealth and were in debt. In 2017, they repaid a loan worth $20 billion. As of 2021, their net worth was $2.2 billion as per Forbes.
The Godrej brothers
Adi and Nadir Godrej head the 126-year-old Godrej Group that was started by Ardeshir Godrej. The company has a revenue worth of $5.2 billion. Adi Godrej is the chairman and is one of the richest men in the country with a net worth of $2.9 billion as per Forbes. Nadir Godrej is the younger sibling of multi-billionaire Adi Godrej and is the owner of one-fifth of the Godrej Group’s holdings. He joined the family firm more than forty years ago and had earned degrees from MIT, Stanford University, and the Harvard firm School as well as an MBA.
The Mittal siblings
The world’s largest steel and mining firm, ArcelorMittal, with $80 billion in annual revenue as per Forbes, is led by Lakshmi Mittal. He hails from a family that did business in this sector for years, however, he split from his siblings to found Mittal Steel, which he later merged with France’s Arcelor in 2006.
In the 1990s, Pramod and Vinod, the less well-known siblings of Lakshmi Mittal, the legendary owner of Arcelor Mittal, unveiled massive plans. These included one for Maharashtra-based Ispat Industries and a move into the telecom industry through Hughes Ispat, a landline service provider that was acquired by the Tata group.
According to a report by The Economic Times, he two younger brothers’ own venture into steel production came to an end in December 2010. Debt-ridden, the Mittal family sold JSW Steel a controlling share in Ispat Industries, their flagship business, in December 2010.
The brothers also have a sister, Seema Lohia, who wedded Sri Prakash Lohia, an Indian-born millionaire businessman who now resides in Indonesia and is the founder and chairman of Indorama Corporation, a diverse petrochemical and textile firm.
