Hurun rich list: Adani made ₹1,612 crore per day in last 1 year

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani’s wealth more than doubled in the last one year as he added a whopping ₹588,500 crore at ₹1,612 crore per day, according to the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022 released on Wednesday (September 21).

“For the first time since the launch of Hurun lists, cumulative wealth of India rich listers has grown to ₹100 lakh crore – more than the combined GDPs of Singapore, UAE and Saudi Arabia,” IIFL Wealth and Hurun India said.

Also read: At $49 billion, Adani added more wealth than Musk, Bezos and Arnault

“Fuelled by acquisitions and organic growth, Gautam Adani (60), has moved into the top spot and is the richest man in India with a wealth of ₹10,94,400 crore. His wealth has more than doubled (116%) in the last one year and in absolute terms, he added ₹5,88,500 crore,” they said.

According to them, in the last five years, the first-generation entrepreneur’s wealth has increased by 1,440%.

They said they have found 1,103 individuals with ₹1,000 crore, up by 96, the first time to break through the 1,100 crore mark, an increase of 62% over the last five years.

Modi, Nayar’s rise

However, as per the list, Ravi Modi of Vedant Fashions was the biggest gainer this year in terms of percentage. Vedant Fashions, the owner of ethnic wear brand Manyavar gained the most in percentage terms, as it grew 376% to ₹32,400 crore.

Falguni Nayar and family’s flagship company, Nykaa also grew by 345% in the last year to report a wealth of ₹38,700 crore. Nayar, 59, has overtaken Biocon founder and chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, 68, to become the richest self-made Indian woman on the list.

Gautam Adani, founder and chairman of Adani Group, is now the world’s third-richest with a net worth of $152.4 billion as of Wednesday. Last week, he was the second-richest in the world for a brief period on the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List.

In the Hurun India Rich List, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani is in the second position with a wealth of ₹794,700 crore followed by Serum Institute of India’s Cyrus Poonawalla and Family (₹205,400 crore).

When compared over five years, some of the billionaires have scaled up significantly and surged ahead as their companies created wealth at an unprecedented speed. Gautam Adani and his brother are the most obvious, as they moved up in ranking.

Also read: Covishield boost: Cyrus Poonawalla is world’s richest healthcare billionaire

Adani moved up from the eighth rank in 2018 to the number one spot when his wealth increased 15.4 times, while his brother Vinod moved up from the 49th spot to the sixth ranking. Cyrus Poonawalla moved up as the vaccine maker saw his wealth grow 2.8 times in the last five years.

For the first time in 10 years, Ambani, 65, has lost the top ranking despite his wealth increasing by 11%. His wealth has increased by 115% in the last five years.

In 2021, Ambani was ahead of Adani’s wealth by ₹2 lakh crore, whereas in 2022, Adani is ahead of Ambani by ₹3 lakh crore.

Also read: Musk tops Hurun Global Rich List; with $83bn, Ambani is 8th richest

Youngest on the list

The youngest on the list is 19-year-old Kaivalya Vohra who co-founded online grocery company Zepto. Vohra’s partner Aadit Palicha, 20, too made it. Palicha is at the 950th spot with a wealth of ₹1,200 crore while Vohra’s wealth is around ₹1,000 crore and is ranked 1,036.

Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India, said, “From an Indian wealth creation perspective, 2022 will be remembered for Adani’s meteoric rise… In 2012, Adani’s wealth was hardly one-sixth of Ambani’s wealth and no one could imagine that he would overtake Ambani to become the richest man in India in 10 years.”

Juanid said Hurun India has managed to bring the cut-off of its rich list down to ₹1,000 crore from ₹1,800 crore 10 years ago. “It is getting harder to make the top of the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022. The cut-off to the India Top 100, since inception, for example, is up 18-fold to ₹17,600 crore. To make it to the India Top 10 is next to impossible, with a massive ₹1,19,400 crore required.”

For the first time, 100 startup founders, with a cumulative wealth of ₹5,06,000 crore and an average age of 40, feature in the 2022 rich list.

Also read: HCL’s Roshni Nadar is India’s richest woman in Hurun list

Mumbai has most billionaires

Mumbai is home to 26% of those who made it to the rich list. It is the preferred city for India’s biggest wealth creators, followed by New Delhi and Bengaluru. Mumbai registered a net increase of 28 individuals followed by New Delhi which registered a net increase of 18.

With 335 and 185 entrants respectively, Maharashtra and Delhi are the preferred states of residence for individuals.

Billionaire NRIs

There are 94 NRIs on the list and 88% of them are self-made. With 48 individuals, the US is the most preferred country for NRIs, followed by the UAE and the UK. With ₹169,000 crore, Vinod Shantilal Adani & family of Adani Group is the wealthiest NRI. With a fortune of ₹70,000 crore, Jay Chaudhry is the wealthiest NRI living in the US.

The 2022 list added a record 149 new faces, from 32 industries and 36 cities. The chemicals and petrochemicals sector contributed the greatest number of new entrants with 20 new additions, followed by financial services (17) and software and services (12).

A record 735 entrepreneurs or 67% are self-made in the list, up from 659 last year, and up from 54% five years ago. 79% of new faces this year are self-made.

With 126 individuals on the list, pharmaceuticals leads the table followed by chemicals and petrochemicals with 102 individuals and software and services with 84 individuals.

More than 85% of the billionaires on the list are above the age of 50 with the majority of them, 32.5% in the age group of 61-70. 11% of the billionaires are in the age group of 41-50, while 4.4% of the list belongs to the age group of 31-40. Only 0.7% of the rich in the list are below the age of 30.

Prannoy Roy and his wife Radhika Roy of NDTV entered the list (681 rank) with a combined wealth of ₹2,000 crore after Adani enterprises acquired a stake and announced an open offer for the company.

Also read: Why Adani Group could soon walk into massive debt trap

Thirteen people born in the 1990s made it to the rich list 2022 and they are all self-made. Chemicals is the fastest growing industry, adding 20 new faces. The average age of the list is 63, unchanged from last year. The average age of women on the list is 61.

The richest Indian professionals list is headed by Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks with a wealth of INR 16,600 crore. She led the company to a historic and successful IPO in June 2014 from zero to a multibillion-dollar business. Thomas Kurian of Oracle is in the second position and is followed by Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks.

“The list has been researched and compiled by the Hurun Research Institute for the 10th year running. The cut-off used was 31st August 2022 when the rate of exchange to the US dollar was ₹79.50. The list relates to individuals born or brought up in India irrespective of their current residence or passport,” IIFL Wealth and Hurun India said about the methodology.