Mukesh Ambani, chairman, Reliance Industries, continues to top the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 for the ninth consecutive year, with a total wealth of Rs 6,58,400 crore.
His total wealth has surged by 73 percent in the past one year, propelling him to become the richest individual in Asia and fourth richest person in the world.
Commenting on the launch, Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, said, “The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List is a barometer of the Indian economy, helping us understand which industries have gone up, innovated or gone down. The stories of these entrepreneurs tell the stories of India’s modern businesses.”
"As much as 28 percent of the upswing in wealth on the list has been bestowed by Mukesh Ambani, bespeaking Ambani's meteoric success post diversifying from oil to telecom and retail. A further 21 percent of the additional wealth has been generated by pharma, mainly on the back of the rise in healthcare spends and a realigned priority towards personal healthcare stimulated by the Covid-19,” he said.
The cut-off for the top 10 billionaires rose by 6 percent to Rs 76,000 crore this year, a 10-year increase in wealth compared to the previous year. The cumulative wealth of IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich Listers has increased by 20 percent compared to that of last year. As many as 84 individuals have migrated from India and are NRIs. As many as 19 saw their wealth double year on year.
London-based Hinduja brothers (SP Hinduja, along with his three brothers) with a joint wealth of Rs 1,43,700 crore bagged the second position. HCL-Founder Shiv Nadar with a wealth of Rs 1,41,700 crore ranked third, followed by Gautam Adani and family at fourth spot and Azim Premji at fifth spot.
Radhakishan Damani, the founder of Avenue Supermarts, debuted in the top 10 wealthiest individuals ranking in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020.
All three of Udaan founders became the highest gainers in terms of wealth as compared to the 2019 edition – with increase of 274 percent in each of their wealth. Chigurupati Krishna Prasad (65), of Granules India, also registered a 218 percent jump in the wealth to Rs 3,500 crore.
With a wealth of Rs 4,500 crore, Ritesh Agarwal (26) of Oyo Rooms is the youngest person on the list and with a wealth of Rs 5,400 Crore, Dharam Pal Gulati (96) of MDH is the oldest on the list.
Nearly 5 percent of the list (40 individuals) is comprised of women. 10 out of these 40 women are self-made. The richest woman in the list is Smita V Crishna, 69, of Godrej with Rs 32,400 crore, followed by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 67, of Biocon with a wealth of Rs 31,600 crore also the richest self-made woman in India. The average age of women on the list is 61 years.
Being home to 217 individuals that comprise 26 percent of the list, Mumbai is the residential capital of India’s wealthy, followed by New Delhi and Bengaluru.
In the year 2020, Mumbai registered an increase of 41 individuals from the rich list, while New Delhi lost 5 of them.
More than half of the new additions in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 are contributed by top three cities this year - this was 36 percent last year. Further, with 248 and 128 entrants respectively, Maharashtra and Delhi are the preferred states of residence for individuals in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020.
USA, UAE and UK are the preferred countries for migration.
As many as 84 NRIs feature in the IIFL Wealth Hurun Indian Rich List 2020. With 37 individuals, USA is the most preferred country by NRIs, followed by the UAE and the UK, which are home to 18 and 14 individuals, respectively.
The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 has been researched and compiled by the Hurun Research Institute for the ninth year running, using a cut-off of August 31, 2020 when the rate of exchange to the US dollar was Rs 73.67. The list relates to Indians only, defined as born or brought up in India.
About the top 10
With a wealth of Rs 1,41,700 Cr, the founder of HCL, Shiv Nadar ranks third, backed by a 37% increase in HCL’s share price. Nadar jumped 2 ranks to third place in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. In July 2020, after Shiv Nadar stepped down as the Chairman, his daughter Roshni Nadar Malhotra took charge of HCL as its Chairperson.
With a wealth of Rs 1,40,200 Cr, Gautam Adani & family ranks fourth in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. Backed by the performance of Adani Green, Gautam Adani’s wealth increased by 48% compared to that of last year. Adani moved up two places to the fourth rank, thereby breaking into the top 5 for the first time. This year, in August, Adani Green became the first Adani Group company to cross the 1 Lakh Cr market cap. Adani Group also manages 6 airports in the country and have bid for more.
With a wealth of Rs 1,14,400 Cr, Azim Premji moves down 2 positions to the fifth rank. A celebrated philanthropist, Azim Premji through his foundation and two other scientific institutes joined hands in May 2020 to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, by conducting research to find innovative testing methods. He celebrated his 75th birthday this year and the publisher Harper Collins announced the commencement of his biography titled “The Man Beyond Millions”.
With a wealth of Rs 94,300 Cr, Cyrus S Poonawalla of Serum Institute of India occupies the sixth position. Poonawalla’s wealth increased by 6% and gained two ranks; in June 2020, Poonawalla debuted the top 100 in Hurun Global Rich List. Serum Institute of India (SII) is working closely with Oxford University and multiple institutions to manufacture and distribute Covid-19 vaccines. In August this year, SII announced its partnership with Bill and Melinda Gates foundation to deliver up to 100 million doses of the vaccine to India and other low and middle-income countries.
With a wealth of Rs 87,200 Cr, Radhakishan Damani, the founder of Avenue Supermarts, stormed into the top 10 for the first time in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List. Since its IPO in 2017, Avenue Supermarts’ share price has increased by more than 250% and his rank in the list increased by 23 places. A media shy veteran, Damani, who is also a revered investor, was in the news for buying 2.75% of India Cements through an open market transaction.
With a wealth of Rs 87,000 Cr, Uday Kotak ranks eighth in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. On account of 5.1% drop in Q1 net profit, Uday Kotak’s wealth registered a drop of 8% or Rs 7,100 Cr compared to last year.
With a wealth of Rs 84,000 Cr, Dilip Shanghvi regains ninth rank (up 2 places) in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. Backed by a 22% increase in share price of Sun Pharma, Dilip Shanghvi’s wealth increased by 17% or Rs 12,500 Cr. Sun Pharma’s share price decreased by 25% during the beginning of March lockdown and registered a strong V shaped recovery, and gained back a whopping 60% over the last 6 months.
New entrants
With a wealth of Rs 6,500 Cr, Ronnie Screwvala (63) of Unilazer Ventures debuted in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 and secured 188th position. Most of his wealth is derived from upGrad, an e-learning platform that offers education for working professionals. He is also an early investor in some of the most successful Indian start-ups such as Lenskart, Niki.ai, Kimaye and so on.
The rise of Kamath Brothers: Nithin Kamath & Nikhil Kamath co-founded the online trading platform Zerodha and grew it to become India’s largest stockbroker by number of clients. With a wealth of Rs 16,900 Cr, Nithin Kamath, 40,stormed into Top 100 in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 and Nikhil Kamath, 34, registered a wealth Rs 7,100 Cr.
The IPO Star: Backed by the post IPO performance of Software Services company, Happiest Minds, which got subscribed by 150 times, Ashok Soota, 77, registered a wealth of Rs 3,700 Cr and debuted the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 at the 282th rank. Soota was the Founding Chairman and Managing Director of MindTree, which again completed a successful IPO during his tenure. Soota is the co-author of the national bestseller “Entrepreneurship Simplified”.
LIC agent then, billionaire now: Lachman Das Mittal, 89, an LIC agent turned entrepreneur founded Sonalika Tractors that has grown to become the third largest tractor manufacturer in India. With a wealth of Rs 7,700 Cr, Lachman Das Mittal ranked 164th on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020.
With a wealth of Rs 8,500 Cr, Vinod Saraf, 70, secured 152nd spot in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. Saraf, the founder of Vinati Organics (named after his daughter and the CEO – Vinati Saraf), a speciality chemical company, was the fastest riser in last year and registered a 16% increase in wealth this year. During the founding days, he pumped in his entire personal savings of Rs 57 lakh, borrowed from friends and family and has now built one of the most valuable chemicals business in India. Saraf was presented with the “Hurun Value Creator of the Year” award during the Hurun Most Respected Entrepreneurs Summit 2019.
Rags to Riches Veteran: With a wealth of Rs 5,400 Cr, Dharam Pal Gulati, 96, of MDH is the oldest individual in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich 2020 find his place at 216th Rank. Gulati was born in Pakistan and moved to India after partition with Rs 1,500.
Richest Indian professional managers
Professional Managers in the list consist of individuals who joined busines after it has been founded, helped it grow and these managers were given stock options from which they have created their wealth. “These Indian executives have been the cornerstones in wealth creation of some of the most valuable and respectable companies in the world. Their stories are truly inspirational for young Indian professionals, India being home to the youngest professional work force in the world”, said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.
With a wealth of Rs 11,300 Cr, Thomas Kurian is the number one richest professional manager in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. An MBA graduate, Kurian began his career at McKinsey & Company in New York. Later, he joined Oracle, where his career spanned for more than two decades. Most of his wealth is attributed to his stake sale in Oracle. He now leads the Cloud division of Google. With a wealth of Rs 9,100 Cr,
President and CEO of Arista Networks, Jayshree Ullal is the second richest professional manager Indian in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. In June 2014, Arista Networks filed for IPO under the leadership of Ullal.
A 2016 Padma Shri awardee, Ajaypal Singh Banga holds the third position in the ranking of richest non-promoter Indians in the list. He is the President and CEO of Mastercard and registered a wealth of Rs 7,200 Cr – mainly on the back of his holdings and stake sale in Master Card.
The fourth richest professional manager Indian in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 is Nikesh Arora who registered a wealth of Rs 6,500 Cr. Arora is currently the CEO and Chairman of Palo Alto Networks. Prior to joining Palo Alto Networks, he served in the leadership positions of SoftBank and Google. Most of his wealth is derived from stake sale in SoftBank.
With a wealth of Rs 5,900 Cr, Microsoft’s CEO, Satya Nadella is the fifth richest professional manager Indian in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. Born and raised in Hyderabad, Nadella left for the US to pursue master’s in computer science. Since 1992, Nadella has been working with Microsoft and most of his wealth is derived from Microsoft stake sale. With a wealth of Rs 5,900 Cr, Sundar Pichai shares the fifth position with Satya Nadella in the ranking of richest professional manager Indians in the list. He joined Google in 2004 and was promoted to CEO in under a decade. Pichai is one of the highest paid CEOs in the world. Google Chrome’s development and Android’s acquisition by Google are two of the major milestones of his career.
With a wealth of Rs 4,500 Cr, Shantanu Narayen, Chairman of Adobe is the seventh richest professional manager in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. An Indian-origin techie, Shantanu’s began his career with Apple. Apart from his current role at Adobe, he also serves in leadership roles of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum and Pfizer. In 2019, he was felicitated with Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award.
With a wealth of Rs 3,500 Cr, Former CEO and Chairperson of PepsiCo, Indra K Nooyi holds the eighth position amongst the richest professional manager Indians in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. She became the first independent female director of ICC after joining the institution in 2018. Nooyi, whose career at PepsiCo spanned for 25 years, derived most of her wealth through stake sale in Pepsi.
With a wealth of Rs 3,200 Cr, Ignatius Navil Noronha is the ninth richest professional manager Indian in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. He currently serves as the CEO of Avenue Supermarts, which is a parent organization of Indian hypermarket chain, DMart. He is the richest professional manager Indian serving on the board of an Indian company.
A new entrant to the ranking of wealthiest non-promoter Indians in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020, Aditya Puri, the Managing Director of HDFC Bank, registered a wealth of Rs 1,300 Cr. Puri joined HDFC Bank in 1994, after working with Citibank for 2 years. In July 2020, he sold his 0.13% stake in HDFC Bank valued at Rs 842 Cr.
“Assuming that for every one Hurun rich lister we have found, we have probably missed two, it is likely that India today has 2,000 individuals with Rs 1,000 crore,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.
Speaking at the launch, Yatin Shah, Co-Founder, IIFL Wealth & Asset Management said, “The IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020, is a testament to our belief in the India growth story. Despite these unprecedented times, it is encouraging to note that the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 has only grown."
"The sentiment among entrepreneurs and industry leaders has improved in recent months. India is witnessing multiple themes playing out simultaneously, which include rising wealth creation in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, change in behaviour of wealthy families with wealth preservation dominating investment decisions,” he said.
(Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd. )
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