Tag: billionaire

  • Kardashians in India for billionaire wedding gala

    Kardashians in India for billionaire wedding gala

    Socialite sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian were among the global celebrities spotted in India on Friday to attend a lavish three-day wedding ceremony staged by Asia’s richest man Mukesh Ambani.

    Ambani’s youngest son Anant and fiancee Radhika Merchant, both 29, will tie the knot over the weekend in the financial capital Mumbai following months of pre-marriage parties that have set a new benchmark in matrimonial extravagance.

    Earlier celebrations included a European cruise for 1,200 guests, a purpose-built Hindu temple at the Ambani family’s ancestral home and private performances by R&B star Rihanna and Canada’s Justin Bieber.

    The Kardashians are the latest in a long line of famous foreign VIPs to make an appearance.

    Elder sister Kim shared an Instagram story showing her car mobbed by Indian photographers shortly after her arrival and both siblings receiving flower garlands from staff at their luxury hotel.

    Fellow celebrity guests including actor John Cena posed for cameras on the red carpet upon their arrival at the venue, a huge convention centre owned by the Ambani family’s conglomerate.

    Former British prime ministers Boris Johnson and Tony Blair were also spotted by reporters arriving at Mumbai airport ahead of the party beginning later on Friday.

    In June, the couple embarked on a four-day Mediterranean cruise, where singer Katy Perry performed at a masquerade ball at a French chateau in Cannes.

    The Backstreet Boys, US rapper Pitbull and Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli also provided entertainment.

    Guests at earlier galas have included Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former US president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, along with a who’s who of India’s sporting and entertainment worlds.

    This week’s opulent celebrations are set to raise the bar further, with even more celebrities, politicians and global business elites jetting into monsoon-hit Mumbai.

    Several major roads around the venue have been closed off to the public by authorities for most of the weekend.

    Friday will see the main formal ceremony at the 16,000-person capacity venue, with a separate “blessing ceremony” on Saturday and a grand reception on Sunday.

    – $123 billion fortune –

    Anant’s father Mukesh is chairman of Reliance Industries, a family-founded conglomerate that has grown into India’s biggest company by market cap.

    The patriarch is the world’s 11th richest person with a fortune of more than $123 billion, according to Forbes, and is no stranger to making a statement when it comes to family marriages.

    He held the most expensive wedding in India to date for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost $100 million and saw US singer Beyonce perform.

    Ambani is also a key ally of India’s right-wing Hindu nationalist leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    He inherited a thriving industrial enterprise spanning oil, gas and petrochemicals and grew it into a commercial behemoth.

    Its lucrative interests include retail partnerships with Armani and other luxury brands, more than 40 percent of India’s mobile phone market and an Indian Premier League cricket team.

    His 27-floor family home Antilia is one of Mumbai’s most prominent landmarks, reportedly costing more than $1 billion to build and with a permanent staff of 600 servants.

    Merchant is the daughter of well-known pharmaceutical moguls.

  • Billionaire bash: India’s lavish Ambani nuptials

    Billionaire bash: India’s lavish Ambani nuptials

    Billionaire Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani celebrates the lavish finale of his son’s wedding this week, highlighting his staggering wealth, as well as India’s rapid economic growth and stark financial inequalities.

    Ambani’s younger son Anant and fiancee Radhika Merchant, both 29, are set to marry in a three-day Hindu ceremony in India’s financial capital Mumbai starting Friday.

    Asia’s richest man is no stranger to throwing a costly wedding.

    He held the most expensive wedding in India to date for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost up to $100 million and saw US singer Beyonce perform.

    This week’s opulent celebrations are set to raise the bar, with celebrities, politicians and business elite jetting into the monsoon-hit megacity of Mumbai.

    Pre-wedding parties for his son included multi-day galas, a European cruise for 1,200 guests, a specially built Hindu temple and entertainment provided by pop stars ranging from Rihanna to Justin Bieber.

    – Power –

    Ambani, 67, the chairman of Reliance Industries, has a fortune of more than $123 billion, and is the 11th wealthiest person in the world, according to the Forbes billionaires list.

    He is a key ally of India’s right-wing Hindu nationalist leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

    Ambani inherited a thriving industrial enterprise spanning oil, gas and petrochemicals.

    He grew it into a commercial behemoth with lucrative interests in retail, telecommunications and an Indian Premier League cricket team.

    Ambani’s family home Antilia is one of Mumbai’s most prominent landmarks. The 27-floor building reportedly cost more than $1 billion to erect and has a permanent staff of 600 servants.

    Merchant is the daughter of pharmaceutical moguls.

    – Cruise and zoo –

    Wedding celebrations began in March with a three-day gala for 1,500-plus guests in Gujarat state.

    Rihanna performed her first concert since last year’s Super Bowl for wedding guests including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and ex-US president Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka.

    David Blaine did magic tricks.

    Festivities also involved a trip to the Ambani’s “animal rescue centre” housing exotic animals, and a specially built Hindu temple complex.

    A second leg in June was a four-day Mediterranean cruise with 1,200 guests, Merchant told Vogue.

    Singer Katy Perry performed at a masquerade ball at a French chateau in Cannes, while the Backstreet Boys and US rapper Pitbull also provided entertainment.

    DJ David Guetta played at a toga party at sea.

    The cruise ended in Italy’s Portofino, where tenor Andrea Bocelli serenaded the party in the town square.

    – Gowns –

    The wedding invitation was an intricate chest incorporating a mini silver temple.

    Merchant’s multiple dresses have been as elaborate.

    They have included custom designs from Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and a vintage Yves Saint Laurent for Dior, she told Vogue.

    Another was a sweeping chiffon dress printed with a love letter from her fiancee, the magazine reported.

    “I want to be able to show it to my kids and grandkids, and say that ‘this is what our love was’”, Merchant said.

    – Poverty –

    India is the fastest-growing major economy, and the world’s fifth largest.

    But despite massive advances, the world’s most populous country has a jobs crisis to match.

    National per capita income is just $1,174, according to government data.

    India was ranked 111 of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index report last year, a peer-reviewed measure calculated by European aid agencies.

    One percent of India’s 1.4 billion people earn more than a fifth of its wealth, according to the World Inequality Lab, an income share “among the very highest” in the world — greater than South Africa, Brazil or the United States.

    Perhaps to preempt criticism, Ambani provided a feast for 50,000 people in his hometown of Jamnagar in Gujarat during the first round of parties.

    Ambani also organised a mass wedding for 52 “underprivileged” couples near Mumbai, promising to support “hundreds more such weddings” across India.

  • X considers monthly fee for all users as a countermeasure against fake accounts 

    X considers monthly fee for all users as a countermeasure against fake accounts 

    Renowned technology billionaire Elon Musk hinted on Tuesday that users of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, may face a monthly fee. Musk stated, “We’re moving to having a small monthly payment for use of the system,” during a conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. 

    Musk’s proposal is driven by the need to combat the issue of bots and fake accounts on social media, with the idea of charging for verification. However, it remains unclear whether this was a spontaneous comment or a signal of more concrete plans. 

    The new owner of the social media giant X, who assumed control last year, is encouraging users to subscribe to X Premium, which offers paid subscribers additional features like longer posts and increased visibility. Currently, users can still access X for free. 

    While Musk insists that the primary objective is to combat bots, it is apparent that there is a financial interest for the company in charging users, according to the BBC. Musk explained, “A bot costs a fraction of a penny to make. But if somebody even has to pay a few dollars or something, some minor amount, the effective cost to bots is very high.” 

    Read more: iOS 17 update is here: Try these fun features today

    The world’s richest person is also exploring options for lower pricing tiers for X Premium, which currently costs $8 (£6.50) per month in the US, with variations depending on the subscriber’s location. He stated, “We’re actually going to come up with lower-tier pricing. So we just want it to be a small amount of money.” 

    Musk emphasised, “This is a longer discussion, but in my view, this is actually the only defence against vast armies of bots.” 

    However, there is a concern that placing X behind a paywall could result in a significant loss of users, potentially affecting the company’s primary source of income, advertising revenue. 

  • Barbie is the first billion dollar film to be made by a female director

    Barbie is the first billion dollar film to be made by a female director

    Life in plastic is fantastic!

    As if leading a pink wave around the world wasn’t enough, cashing in a billion dollars from your first month in cinemas alone would be perfect. Warner Bros Pictures announced on Sunday that the Greta Gerwig directed film has broken records to make more than $1 billion dollars at the global box office, making Gerwig the first female director to accomplish this. The studio revealed that the movie took $459 million from North American theatres, and an extra $572 million from overseas screening, making a total of $1.0315 bn. Their final figures were confirmed by the media analytics firm Comscore:

    “As distribution chiefs, we’re not often rendered speechless by a film’s performance, but Barbillion has blown even our most optimistic predictions out of the water,” said Jeff Goldstein and Andrew Cripps, who oversee domestic and international distribution for the studio.

    The film, which was written and directed by the Oscar-nominated Greta Gerwig, stars Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling in leading roles, as Barbie travels from her fantasy world to the real world in an attempt to understand the recent unravelings happening to her.

    Oppenheimer, meanwhile, has officially become the highest grossing World War II film ever made, by crossing the $550 million mark at the global box office.

  • Elon Musk enters Twitter office holding a bathroom sink

    Elon Musk enters Twitter office holding a bathroom sink

    Billionaire Elon Musk entered the Twitter’s San Francisco office on Wednesday with a bathroom sink in his hands, with just a few more days to finalise his acquisition of Twitter and avoid a fresh court hearing.

    “Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!” the Tesla and SpaceX CEO tweeted with a video of his entrance.

    Earlier, Musk also changed his bio on Twitter, where he has more than 110 million followers, to “Chief Twit.”

    Musk must finalise the purchase of Twitter by Friday at 5 p.m. Eastern Time, or else he will have to consider going to trial once again.

    When Musk attempted to terminate their $44 billion merger deal, Twitter sued him on the grounds that it had been negligent in disclosing information concerning spam and bots on its network, which he claimed would have a materially negative impact. This was refuted by Twitter.

    After Musk said that he would in fact be prepared to purchase Twitter, a judge in the Delaware Chancery Court set the Friday deadline.

    Twitter wants the court to continue to be engaged because it did not trust Musk’s word. The judge ultimately decided to postpone the trial that had been scheduled for last week and gave the parties until the end of this week to reach a settlement; otherwise, she would schedule fresh trial dates for November.

  • Bugatti delivers last unit of 1600 HP Chiron Super Sport 300+ unit for Rs82 crore

    Bugatti delivers last unit of 1600 HP Chiron Super Sport 300+ unit for Rs82 crore

    The last Chiron Super Sport 300+ has been delivered by Bugatti, bringing an end to the first production road car to reach 483 km/h.

    The Molsheim factory of Bugatti only produced 30 of the 300+ vehicles, and each one cost its owner nearly Rs82 crore ($3.6 million) to own.

    At Volkswagen’s Ehra-Lessien testing facility, Andy Wallace, the official nutjob of Bugatti and a former McLaren Le Mans driver, smashed the speed record for the Super Sport 300+ in late 2019.

    In order to achieve that, Bugatti’s engineers modified the gearing, increased the horsepower of the 8.0-liter W16 from 1480 to 1579, and created new longtail bodywork that stretched the Chiron by 9.8 inches (250 mm), lowering the aerodynamic stall by 40 per cent.

    The stock Chiron’s top speed without those upgrades is 420 km/h, but only after you’ve used the second ‘speed key’ to disable the 236 mph (380 km/h) electronic limiter.

  • Sheryl Sandberg to step down from Facebook after 14 years

    Sheryl Sandberg to step down from Facebook after 14 years

    Facebook-parent Meta confirmed that Sheryl Sandberg is stepping down as its chief operating officer (COO) of the social media platform.

    However, Sandberg did not specify the reason for her departure from the company, which will happen in the fall, in a Facebook post. Sandberg revealed that she intends to concentrate on her charity efforts in the future.

    “The debate around social media has changed beyond recognition since those early days. To say it hasn’t always been easy is an understatement,” Sandberg wrote. “But it should be hard. The products we make have a huge impact, so we have the responsibility to build them in a way that protects privacy and keeps people safe”.

    Mark Zuckerberg clarified that Sandberg will remain on the board of directors of Meta, according to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a separate Facebook post. The company’s Chief Growth Officer, Javier Olivan, will take over as COO, although his work will be “distinct from what Sheryl has done” and “a more traditional COO function”.

    In a recent post, Zuckerberg said: “It’s unusual for a business partnership like ours to last so long. I think ours did because Sheryl is such an amazing person, leader, partner, and friend”.

    Sandberg established herself as a high-profile figure in the IT industry prior to joining Facebook, having previously served as Google’s vice president of global online sales and operations. Prior to joining Google, she worked for President Bill Clinton at the World Bank and the Treasury Department.

    She was often regarded as the adult supervisor for a firm led by a very young entrepreneur during her early years at Facebook.

    Sandberg closely worked with Zuckerberg to increase Facebook’s income from around $150 million in 2007 to over $3.7 billion in 2011, the year before the company went public.  She also rose to fame as one of the most powerful women in technology. Her notoriety was enhanced by her role in founding the Lean In movement, which outlined a strategy for women to succeed and achieve their objectives.

  • Elon Musk offers $43 billion to acquire Twitter

    Elon Musk offers $43 billion to acquire Twitter

    Elon Musk has submitted a takeover bid for Twitter, offering $54.20 per share, days after becoming the group’s largest shareholder. This is an offer worth more than $43 billion.

    According to a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing, Mr. Musk described this as a “best and last offer,” reflecting a 54 per cent premium over the day before he commenced investing in the business in late January 2022.

    Musk stated in the filing that “I don’t have faith in the management” and that he could not make the adjustments he desired in the public market.

    As per a letter written to CEO Salesforce and chairman of Twitter, Bret Taylor, Musk stated that if the proposal is not accepted, he will reassess his status as a shareholder as Twitter has a lot of potential which needs to be unlocked.

    The billionaire CEO of Tesla and SpaceX and the world’s richest man, purchased a 9.2 per cent share in Twitter on April 4, according to a regulatory filing. The tech mogul was invited to join Twitter’s board of directors the next day, but he denied the offer by the end of the week.

    Musk wrote to Mr. Taylor on April 13: “I invested in Twitter because I believe it has the potential to be the global platform for free speech, and I believe free speech is a societal requirement for a healthy democracy”.

    Read more: Elon Musk is no longer joining Twitter board as the microblogging network is “dying”

    “However, after making my investment, I’ve come to recognize that the company, in its current form, can neither thrive nor serve this societal need,” he wrote. “Twitter should be turned into a private firm”.

    Considering the tweeted document, Musk’s financial adviser for the proposal is Morgan Stanley.

  • Elon Musk is no longer joining Twitter board as the microblogging network is “dying”

    Elon Musk is no longer joining Twitter board as the microblogging network is “dying”

    The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, Elon Musk will not be joining the Twitter board of directors, according to Twitter’s CEO Parag Agrawal. Musk’s appointment on the board was supposed to start on April 9, however, he announced that he would no longer be joining.

    Agrawal posted a statement on April 10, saying Musk’s appointment to the board would be subject to a background investigation and that once nominated, he would have to operate in the company’s best interests. “Elon is our biggest shareholder and we will remain open to his input,” he added.

    What Happened Earlier?

    Earlier, the tech mogul tweeted the list of the top ten most followed personalities, which included celebrities and politicians such as former US President Barack Obama, Rihanna, Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, and Lady Gaga.

    The world’s wealthiest man had a complaint: many of the top Twitter accounts do not upload anything.

    Former US President Barack Obama (131.4 million followers), singer Justin Bieber (114.3 million), Katy Perry (108.8 million), and other top accounts belonging to popular artists Rihanna and Taylor Swift were among the names on the list from the Twitter account of World of Statistics, which Musk posted.

    Interestingly, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is ranked ninth on the list, with a popularity of 77.1 million followers, one notch below Musk, who has 81 million followers on the social network.

    Whereas Modi is an avid Twitter user who publishes everything from his daily schedule to welcoming foreign leaders, Musk laments that celebrities like Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber rarely post. Taylor hasn’t posted anything in three months, and the ‘yummy’ singer Justin Bieber only tweeted once in 2022.

    Musk, who just purchased a 9.2 per cent interest in Twitter for roughly $3 billion in his controversial style, asked his followers another question: Is Twitter dying? 

    In an ‘April fool’ message, Twitter said that it is testing some new features, one of which is a long-awaited ‘edit’ button. The platform later explained that the change to the edit button was not an April Fool’s prank and that it was truly being tested by the company.

    It is worth noting that Musk also proposed a number of improvements to Twitter’s Blue premium subscription service, including lowering the price, limiting adverts, and allowing users to pay in the crypto. Many internet users were surprised by the recent announcement, as they had been expecting Tesla’s CEO to join the board of microblogging site and witness what changes he would make.