Indian billionaires lost $93 billion in a year as Covid-19 and slowdown ate into their wealth

• Even before the coronavirus outbreak, Indian economy has been slowing down which has led Indian billionaires to collectively lose 23% of their net worth.
  
• Mukesh Ambani is still the richest man in India with a networth of $36.8 billion though he fell to 21st rank from the tenth rank he held earlier, globally.
  
• The other billionaires who lost wealth include Uday Kotak, Gautam Adani, and Shiv Nadar. Radhakishan Damani and Sunil Bharati Mittal were the only exceptions.

The Covid-19 outbreak and slowdown has cost many people their salaries, jobs and much more. Indian billionaires are not immune to it either. Collectively all of India’s 102 billionaires lost $93 billion - or a quarter of their wealth. Indian billionaires are now worth $313 billion as opposed to $406 billion last year - that is 23% lower than what they held last year.

“The COVID-19 pandemic was a double whammy for India’s billionaires, whose fortunes had already taken a hit from a slowing economy and falling consumer demand. Even before India went into a total lockdown at the end of March, its stock market had plunged to a three-year low as of March 18, the date we finalized this year’s list,” reported Forbes.

As all Indian billionaires lost, Mukesh Ambani could retain his title as India’s richest man. But his net worth slumped to $36.8 billion from $50 billion earlier, which made him lose his global ranking. He is now the 21st richest man in the world as opposed to 9th richest man earlier.

Many other billionaires including Uday Kotak, Cyrus Poonawalla, and Shiv Nadar lost over a billion dollars each. Radhakishan Damani of DMart and Sunil Bharati Mittal were the only exceptions. Damani is now the second richest man in India. His net worth rose by a quarter to $13.8 billion from $11.1 billion earlier after shares of Avenue Supermarts surged 31% between January 1 and February 18.

But slowdown is not the only reason why many billionaires lost their wealth. This number was greatly affected by generosity, and mostly from one person. Tech tycoon and owner of Wipro Azim Premji donated 73% of his wealth, reducing the collective net worth by a substantial amount.

Here are the latest set of 10 richest people in India and net worth, according to Forbes

Note: All the net worth are current estimates as of March 18, 2020

1. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries
   

Net worth 2020: $36.8 billion
Networth 2019: $50 billion
Residence: Mumbai
Source of wealth: Petrochemicals, Oil & Gas

2. Radhakishan Damani, Founder of Avenue Supermart

Net worth 2020: $13.8 billion
Net worth 2019: $11.3 billion
Residence: Mumbai
Source of wealth: Retail, Investments

3. Shiv Nadar, Founder and chairman of HCL

Net worth 2020: $11.9 billion
Net worth 2019: $14.6 billion
Residence: Delhi
Source of wealth: Software Services

4. Uday Kotak, Executive VC and MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank

Net worth 2020: $10.4 billion
Net worth 2019: $11.8 billion
Residence: Mumbai
Source of wealth: Banking

5. Gautam Adani, Chairman and founder of the Adani Group

Net worth 2020: $8.9 billion
Net worth 2019: $8.7 billion
Residence: Ahmedabad
Source of wealth: Commodities, Ports

6. Sunil Mittal, Founder and chairman of Bharti Enterprises

Net worth 2020: $8.8 billion
Net worth 2019: $6.5 billion
Residence: Delhi
Source of Wealth: Telecom

7. Cyrus Poonawalla, Chairman of Poonawalla Group

Net worth 2020: $8.2 billion
Net worth 2019: $9.5 billion
Residence: Pune
Source of wealth: Vaccines

8. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group

Net worth 2020: $7.6 billion
Net worth 2019: $11.1 billion
Residence: Mumbai
Source of wealth: Commodities

9. Lakshmi Mittal, Chairman and CEO of ArcelorMittal

Net worth 2020: $7.4 billion
Net worth 2019: $10.5 billion
Residence: London
Source of wealth: Steel

10. Azim Premji , Chairman of Wipro (rank tied with Dilip Sanghvi),

Net worth 2020: $6.1 billion
Net worth 2019: $22.6 billion
Residence: Bangalore
Source of wealth: Software Services

10. Dilip Shanghvi, Founder Sun Pharmaceuticals

Net worth 2020: $6.1 billion
Net worth 2019: $7.6 billion
Residence: Mumbai
Source of Wealth: Pharmaceuticals

Mukesh Ambani drops 12 places in Forbes rich list after Coronacrash — is now the 21st richest man in the world