With a current net worth of nearly $25 billion, Savitri Jindal—India's richest woman—has overtaken software magnate Azim Premji in net worth. While the fortune of Savitri Devi Jindal, the chairperson emeritus of JSW Steel, surged 87% over the last two years, Azim Premji witnessed a 42% drop in his net worth during the same period.
In fact, Azim Premji, who was the third richest person in the country after Mukesh Ambani and Gautam Adani about two years ago, has seen a massive erosion in his net worth since January 2022. Thanks to a 42% drop in Wipro’s share over the last two years. The wealth of Wipro’s founder chairman also experienced a similar drop to $24 billion as of Monday.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Azim Premji currently occupies sixth place after Savitri Jindal. While Savitri Jindal, whose interests span steel, power, cement, and infrastructure, derived the majority of Premji's wealth from his 62.5% stake in Wipro. According to a Bloomberg calculation, the value of stakes held by Premji in Wipro stands at $16.5 billion as of Friday.
For Jindal, it is the flagship firm, JSW Steel, which contributed almost 30% to her fortune. While JSW Infrastructure adds another $4.8 billion to her fortune, others like Jindal Steel & Power and JSW Energy also account for about $4.6 billion each.
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The stock of JSW Energy has gained the most among group companies, with a 59% gain in 2023 so far. That was followed by Jindal Steel & Power and JSW Steel, which are up by 24% and 10%, respectively, between January and now. The stock of Jindal Steel & Power surged as much as 5% on Monday to hit its 52-week high of ₹728.95 on the NSE.
Interestingly, the rally in Tata Group stocks also improved Mistry's rank in the country’s wealth table. Shapoor Pallonji Mistry, along with his family, is one of the largest shareholders in Tata Sons, with an 18.4% stake. While Mistry is ranked in the third spot, the founder of HCL Technologies, Shiv Nadar, occupies the fourth position with a net worth of $31.6 billion.
Premji, a 78-year-old businessman, who is perhaps best known for his philanthropy rather than his wealth and business skills. On March 14, 2019, Premji's foundation announced that Premji had earmarked an additional $7.5 billion worth of Wipro shares for philanthropy. However, the gift hasn't been removed from the calculation of his net worth, as the promoter entities retain voting rights and the shareholding remains intact even after the announcement.
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