Mukesh Ambani: Asia's richest man keeps his friends close, has a fixed salary since 10 years, and is a favourite headline name

Despite a tough year for tech giants Facebook and Google, the founders of both the companies were among the top 10 richest people in the world.

The social media network, that celebrated its 15th anniversary in January, was embroiled in the Cambridge Analytica scandal, and has been facing allegations of data breach and privacy violation. However, that doesn't seem to have had much of an impact on founder Mark Zuckerberg's (C) wealth that was still up by USD 1 billion. As for the ranking, the 34-year-old dropped just one place to fifth on the list, yet remaining the youngest of the Top 10.

Google, too, has been at the receiving end of questions on privacy invasion, and parent company Alphabet was recently fined a record US$5.1bn by the European Union for abusing Android’s dominance in the smartphone market. But despite the tough times, 45-year-old Sergey Brin (L) and 45-year-old Larry Page (R) both made their debut in the top 10 on the list. Brin, who is also an avid data miner of Ethereum - the second largest crypto, was at No. 8 with USD 54 billion, while Page with USD 53 billion ranked at the 10th spot.

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani became the first Indian to break into global top 10. The 61-year-old, who is the only Asian among the top 10, saw a USD 9 billion or 20% surge in his wealth, taking his net worth to USD 54 billion.

Ambani bucked the poor stock market trend in India in the last year, and Reliance Jio Infocomm announced the launch of international roaming between India and Japan, a first for India’s 4G mobile operators to provide VoLTE-based international roaming services in India. He also expanded investment in the entertainment sector with acquisitions worth USD 700 million in Hathway and Den.

Ambani, whose wealth is based on telecom, retail and energy, had also topped the Hurun India Philanthropy List 2018. Currently, the business tycoon is busy with the pre-wedding celebrations of his son Akash - for which he hosted over 850 guests in St. Moritz. In December last year, Ambani hosted the high-profile wedding of his daughter Isha.

Interestingly, Mukesh and his brother Anil Ambani both started with similar amounts after their split, but in the 7 years since then the older Ambani has added USD 30 billion, while Anil has lost over USD 5 billion - amounting to USD 1.9 billion this year. Recently, Anil Ambani was held in contempt of court by the Supreme Court for not paying up Ericsson Rs 540 crore.

Elon Musk jumped 10 places to the 30th spot with USD 28 billion, on back of increase in SpaceX valuation. The Tesla boss, who has been courting trouble with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission due to his tweets that reach out to 25 million followers, ranked 3rd on the Top 10 Immigrant Billionaires list.

Musk, who is originally from South Africa, follows Google's Sergey Brin, and Maria Franca Fissolo of Ferrero Rocher on the immigrant billionaires list.

The report also had some other interesting numbers. 430 billionaires dropped off the list this year, of which 40 were due to deaths and 1,246 saw a drop in their wealth.

China lost the maximum number of billionaires - 213, followed by India with 52.

Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report Chairman and Chief Researcher said, “a 23% drop in the Chinese stock markets coupled with a 6% drop in the Chinese Yuan were the main causes of the dropoffs in China, whilst for India it was a 10% decrease in the value of the Rupee.”

However, in the 201 new additions to the list, China took the lead with 52 billionaires, followed by the USA at 39, and India with 23.

(Representative image)

The Walton family of Walmart is the richest family in the world with a cumulative net worth of USD 173 billion, ahead of Jeff Bezos.

(L to R in pic: Jim, Alice and Rob Walton)

Women made up 15.5% of the list, similar to last year’s 15.3%. The number of self-made women billionaires fell by 3 last year to 56.

China has the maximum number of self-made billionaires led by 55-year-old Chinese property developer Wu Yajun.

The richest woman is 65-year-old L’oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt-Meyers (in pic) with USD 49 billion.

The once closely-knit Hinduja brothers have become the latest business family to find themselves in the middle of a tussle over the future of their $11.2 billion fortune. Fissures have emerged among the four brothers, one of the world's richest, over a letter signed by them in 2014. According to the document, the assets held by one brother belong to all, and that each man will appoint the others as their executors.

However, the group's patriarch 84-year-old Srichand Hinduja and his daughter, Vinoo, want the letter declared worthless.

The dispute came to a light in a ruling delivered by a London judge, who said that the three other brothers, Gopichand, Prakash and Ashok, tried to use the letter to take control of Hinduja Bank - an asset that was in Srichand’s sole name.

The court also allowed Vinoo, SP’s younger daughter, to act as his ‘litigation friend’ to safeguard his interests, since he is said to be suffering from a form of dementia.

The ongoing litigation in the London court began in November last year. Vinoo is seeking to have the July 2014 agreement declared null and void.

The 122-year-old $5-billion Godrej group seems to be the latest India Inc family to have been hit by an internal feud after differences cropped up among family members over development of land holdings owned by Godrej & Boyce.

Brothers Adi and Nadir Godrej control the group’s three listed companies — Godrej Consumer Products Ltd (GCPL), Godrej Properties and Godrej Agrovet. Godrej & Boyce, the holding company of the group with business divisions including aerospace, consumer, office and industrial products, furniture and appliances, is owned by all family members with Jamshyd Godrej as its chairman.

The dispute reportedly arose after the family members were split over the development of a 1,000-acre land parcel they own in Mumbai. According to reports, the crux of the issue is the concentration of the family’s land holding in Godrej & Boyce and its commercial exploitation by the group’s listed arm Godrej Properties.

While Adi and Nadir are in favour of development of the land, the Jamshyd Godrej side is believed to be against excessive development.

JM Financial chairman Nimesh Kampani and lawyer Zia Mody are advising Jamshyd Godrej, while Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Uday Kotak and Cyril Shroff of legal firm Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas are assisting Adi and Nadir Godrej untangle the situation.

The family business board is led by group chairman Adi Godrej and includes brother Nadir, cousin Jamshyd and brother-in-law Vijay Crishna. The fourth generation of the family, which includes the children of Adi, Jamshyd, Nadir and Crishna who are past 18 years, attend meetings as invitees.


In Pic: (L-R) Adi, Nadir and Jamshyd Godrej inaugurate the 'Godrej Interio' store, a joint venture between Godrej & Boyce's Jamshyd Godrej and designer Krsna Mehta, at Godrej Bhawan in Mumbai on February 24, 2010.

The Ambani war was no silent affair. From defamation suits, letters to the PM to dragging each other to court, the once-close brothers did it all.

India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani and his brother Anil Ambani's bitter feud began soon after the death of their father Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder of Reliance Industries, in 2002.

Ambani Sr. hadn't left a will, so his elder son Mukesh became Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries Ltd while Anil was Vice-Chairman.

The feud for control led to the split of the Reliance Group. However, in 2005, their mother, Anandiben, brokered a de-merger, giving Mukesh control of oil and gas, petrochemicals, refining and manufacturing, while Anil got electricity, telecoms and financial services.

Even though some shareholders opposed the decision, the Bombay High Court had approved the de-merger.

But that didn't settle things. Rather the oil wars continued between the brothers, with Anil even accusing involvement of the Government in supporting Mukesh.

Anil's Reliance Natural Resources Ltd. had even placed newspaper ads alleging that the Indian government had sided with Mukesh's Reliance Industries.

Things only went from bad to worse for the brother. In 2008, Anil filed a $2.12 billion defamation suit against Mukesh for remarks he made during an interview with The New York Times.

What started off as a family feud, was termed a matter of 'national interest' by India's then-finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who requested the brothers to resolve the dispute privately.

After going to the Supreme Court in 2009 over the gas dispute (the court ruled in Mukesh's favour), Kokilaben once again intervened in May 2010 to broker a peace agreement. Officials of both their companies received notes that said the Ambani brothers would draft a non-compete agreement.

Soon after, Anil withdrew his defamation suit.

Now a few years later, the brothers are often seen together at family functions, and other events.

Meanwhile, Monday also saw another family feud being resolved. Niranjan Hiranandani and his London-based daughter, Priya Vandrevala, finally ended their battle on the Bombay High Court's directives. The solution came when both sides urged the HC to pass an order without specifying the reasons for its decision. Justice SC Gupte asked Hiranandani and his son Darshan to furnish a bank guarantee of Rs 149 crore towards the anticipated tax liability related to Priya's payout. The two had deposited Rs 360 crore with the high court in November 2017 itself, after a judge made it a condition for hearing the matter.

Hiranandani Sr and his son had signed a Business Associate Agreement with Priya in May 2006 to jointly develop properties in the country. About three years later, Priya accused the two of breaching the deal in at least 19 projects, and approached the London Court of International Arbitration. In 2013, this forum ruled that the BAA had been violated in five projects and in 2016, it asked the two men to compensate Priya.

On Tuesday, former Ranbaxy promoter and founder of Fortis Healthcare, Shivinder Mohan Singh, slapped a suit against elder brother Malvinder in the National Company Law Tribunal. He cited oppression and mismanagement at the RHC Holding, Religare, and Fortis, marking a public rupture between the siblings after the business legacy they inherited slipped out of their hands amid accusations of wrongdoing. Shivinder said the action had been "long overdue" but he had hoped that "better sense" would prevail.

Shivinder also said that he had wanted to spare his family the trauma of a public feud but insisted that he had played only a supporting role.

After leading Fortis Healthcare for close to two decades, Shivinder had moved out to devote himself fulltime to the Radha Soami Satsang Beas. But he said he had returned after seeing the 'ruin of a national healthcare asset', however, despite his best efforts he couldn't succeed in salvaging the situation.

In December 1998, then Raymond boss Vijaypat Singhania's eldest son Madhupati severed ties with the family, left his ancestral home in Mumbai and moved to Singapore. But before shifting base along with his wife Anuradha and four children, Ananya, Rasaalika, Tarini and Raivathari, he entered into a Family Agreement, under which he relinquished his rights, as well as those of his children, to the family property.

The following year, Gautam Hari Singhania, Vijaypat’s younger son, was made the company's MD.

While Madhupati and family continued their lives in Singapore, back in Mumbai Raymond grew—almost five-fold. In 2015, Vijaypat decided to hand over the reins and his 37.17% stake in Raymond to Gautam. It was around the same time, that Madhupati's children filed a suit against their grandfather, questioning the 1998 Family Agreement. In the Bombay HC petition they claimed a right to the Raymond brand, ancestral properties, and other assets of the group.

In an affidavit filed with the court, Madhupati, too, stated that he left the country due to irreparable differences with his father, claiming that his life was full of insults and humiliation. He went on state that he did not want to be humiliated by working under his younger brother, and thus decided to leave.

But troubles didn't end there for septuagenarian, two years after passing on the baton, he was stuck in a property deal over JK House with his son Gautam. The former tycoon was moved to living in a rented house, while he fought for his rights. The messy affair, went on to drag in the two sons of Vijaypat's brother Ajaypat Singhania, Akshaypat and Anant.

As per a 2007 agreement, Gautam Singhania, father Vijaypat, Akshaypat and his mother Veena Devi were set to get an apartment each in the redeveloped JK House at a price of Rs 9,200 per sq ft.

In Pic: Akshaypat and Anant Singhania.

Also Read: Akshay and Anant Singhania hit back at Gautam: Did we ask you to spend Rs 270 cr on JK House, create helipad?

July 4 2004, brought with it turbulence for the Birlas. Priyamvada Birla, widow of Madhav Prasad Birla - one of the four Birla brothers who built the empire, had passed away. And her will had left not just the Birlas, but everyone, stumped. She had given her wealth and her shares in Pilani Investments to her chartered accountant, Rajendra Singh Lodha.

Lodha was also the sole executor of the will.

Till now an outsider, Lodha was now suddenly in the middle of things. The decision was opposed by the Birlas who said she couldn't have left her assets to an outsider.

In court, the Birlas citied a previous mutual will written by Priyamvada and her husband which said that all their assets would go to charity.

The legal battles have continued ever since, often dragging Arun Jaitley and Ram Jethmalani to Kolkata to represent the Birla family.

After the death of Lodha in October 2008, his son Harsh Vardhan Lodha has been taking on the Birlas in the courtroom.