In our new and improved news tab, I saw a story posted by Chachaji about how Mukesh Ambani was now, at least temporarily, the richest man in the world!
Billionaire Mukesh Ambani today became the richest person in the world, surpassing American software czar Bill Gates, Mexican business tycoon Carlos Slim Helu and famous investment guru Warren Buffett, courtesy the bull run in the stock market.
Not actually the richest man in the world, but he is in the top five.
Following a strong share price rally today in his three group companies…the net worth of Mukesh Ambani rose to 63.2 billion dollars (Rs 2,49,108 crore). In comparison, the net worth of both Gates and Slim is estimated to be slightly lower at around 62.29 billion dollars each, with Slim leading among the two by a narrow margin. [Link]
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p>If this was true, I thought, it was a meteoric rise. In 2006 he was ranked 56th richest in the world according to Forbes, in March of 2007 he was still only number 14. That got Rajni the monkey fact checker curious, so she poked around further.
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p>It turns out that Ambani isn’t the really richest man in the world, although he may be in the top 5 along with Carlos Slim, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and Lakshmi Mittal:
Reliance Industries moved swiftly on Tuesday to deny a report that company chief Mukesh Ambani has become the world’s richest man thanks to a surge in stock market. An agency report putting his wealth at $63.2 billion hailed his rise as another triumph for the nation’s booming economy. But Reliance said Ambani was not quite so rich after all, with a net worth of somewhere in the region of $50 billion. [Link]
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p>This is still a huge increase, seeing as he was worth only $20 billion in March, but it doesn’t put him at the top of the heap either.
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p>Honestly though, to me this is all arcane like counting angels on the head of a pin. Once you’re wealthier than Midas, it doesn’t matter to me how much you have. My question is, when will Ambani and Mittal become philanthropists at the level of Buffett and Gates?
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I don’t like to receive charity so I don’t like to give charity. Charity is demeaning to people who receive it, it makes them beggars.
So what would you suggest for people whose houses and livelihood were destroyed by tsunami or earthquake? Let free market take its course? Or pull themselves up with their bootstraps? 🙂
Give them loans.
Sure loans are helpful, and can be another option along with any immediate help in the form of material/cash from fellow citizens/human beings.
YoDad takes issue when Gujju’s are slammed and rightly so. However there was not a word from YoDad when genocide in Gujarat was mentioned. Does silence mean assent to the pogroms run by Gujaratis. Am I missing something ?
More fuel for you. Mukesh A. buys a jet for wifey. Dude’s totally enjoying boomtimes.
Thanks Khoofia. It says:
Wow. When you said jet, I didn’t think you meant a $60 million airbus. He’s not a stingy person when it comes to spending on his family.
Ennis – you’re not kidding there. I’m trying to give the benefit of the doubt here but this really baffles me. A plane that size needs runways that are beyond the reach of smaller airports (desi or amreeki). It may be that buddy’s trying to curry favor with EU for something big, or he felt smaller planes would be riskier, or then again this could just be a vanity project. Regardless, I find this a little obscene.
I didn’t see what model of an Airbus Corporate Jet they purchased. They come in several configurations from their more popular A320/319 to currently rumored their massive A380 (priced at 300 million). 60 million is about what an A320 runs, without discounts. The A320/319 CJ is a popular business jet model (like the Boeing 737 Business Jet). A320s and Boeing 737s don’t need large runways like a widebody aircraft, so your assumption on a plane that size needs runways that are beyond the reach of smaller airports is not true. Fleets of most domestic carriers (India and the USA) are made up of these aircraft. Wikipedia lists Daimler and Reliance as users of the Airbus CJ.
Also, if he’s buying it for his wife a luxury item, I’m assuming she’s not really looking to fly into a small village in India (though the aircraft should be able to get to most airports in the subcontinent).
Gujudude,
The mumbai mirror says it is a 319 airbus.
thanks for the clarification GDude.
How can you call giving for free as help, it should be called degrading a fellow human being. Lets say some upperclass person pities/sympathises with your middleclass(iam just assuming here) existance and offers to donote you some material/cash, how would you feel? if you had any selfrespect you would get offended.
dark brown, what you’re talking about is a different scenario from a disaster scenario that I’m talking about. I don’t know about you, but if my neighbor’s house burned down, my offer for help – whether for them to stay at my house for a few days till they figured things out, or food, or clothes etc. is just what I’d do. If you’d consider such an act degrading or done out of “pity,” then that’s your prerogative and your way of looking at things. I think of it as being considerate and kind, and accepting someone else’s kindness is not, in my books, something to get worked up about. YMMV. shrug
have you seen their new house in bombay? several months back, one of the city papers (mumbai mirror, i think) did a write-up on it – some 60 floors (converted into 30 double-level stories, and 5 or 6 just for parking) a helipad, a panic floor – all with a $1b price tag. while i marvel at it, i do not begrudge them the luxury – but it didn’t even look good….