Hurun India Rich List 2024: Gautam Adani Overtakes Mukesh Ambani To Become India's Richest

Hurun India Rich List 2024: Shiv Nadar & family claimed the third spot with a fortune of Rs 314,000 crore, while vaccine maker Cyrus S. Poonawalla & family ranked fourth

The 2024 Hurun India Rich List has set a new benchmark, crossing the 1,500 mark for the first time with a remarkable 1,539 individuals boasting a net worth exceeding Rs 1,000 crore each. Topping the list this year is Gautam Adani and family, who saw an astonishing 95 per cent increase in wealth, reaching a total of Rs 1,161,800 crore. Mukesh Ambani secured the second spot with a wealth of Rs 1,014,700 crore.

Shiv Nadar & family of HCL Technologies claimed the third position with a fortune of Rs 314,000 crore, while vaccine maker Cyrus S. Poonawalla & family of Serum Institute of India ranked fourth. Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceutical Industries rounded out the top five.

Over the past five years, six individuals have consistently appeared in the India Top 10, including Gautam Adani, Mukesh Ambani, Shiv Nadar, Cyrus S. Poonawalla, Gopichand Hinduja & family, and Radhakishan Damani & family.

Adani, a self-made entrepreneur, recorded the highest wealth growth within the top 10 over the past five years, adding Rs 1,021,600 crore to his fortune. This growth was fueled by a significant surge in share prices across all Adani Group companies over the past year. Adani Ports, for example, experienced a 98 per cent increase, driven by improved utilization levels and the proposed acquisition of new ports and container terminals. Energy-focused companies — Adani Energy, Adani Gas, Adani Transmission, and Adani Power — averaged a 76 per cent growth in share price.

The report also highlighted MSCI's decision to lift restrictions on Adani Group securities in its August 2024 review, signaling a return to normal operations and a stabilising outlook for key stocks like Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, and Ambuja Cements. This year, Hurun has attributed the wealth of the family trust and international companies within the promoter group to Gautam Adani and his family.

Richest Indian Professional Managers

India has proved itself to be the progenitor of some of the most brilliant professional managers in the world. Professional managers in the list consist of individuals who joined the business after it has been founded, helped it grow and these managers were given stock options from which they have created their wealth.

Leading the list is Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks with a wealth of Rs 32,100 crore. She led the company to a historic and successful IPO in June 2014 from zero to a multibillion-dollar business. Nikesh Arora of Palo Alto Networks is in the second position and is followed by Satya Nadella of Microsoft.