Tag: Richest man

  • Asia’s richest man launches lavish pre-wedding party in India

    Asia’s richest man launches lavish pre-wedding party in India

    India’s richest man has kicked off lavish pre-wedding parties for his son by feeding more than 50,000 people in his home town, with celebrations in the coming days expected to include some of the world’s most influential figures.

    Global tech chief executives, industry titans, Bollywood stars, pop icons and politicians are expected to jet in on March 1 for the main three-day celebrations hosted by billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani, who is building a sprawling Hindu temple complex for the event.

    Mr Ambani, 66, chairman of oil-to-telecoms giant Reliance Industries, is Asia’s richest person according to the Forbes real-time billionaires list, worth more than US$114 billion (S$153.28 billion).

    On Feb 28 evening, Mr Ambani and wife Nita – along with their son Anant and his fiancee Radhika Merchant – launched a three-day feast for villagers at the Reliance Township in his home town of Jamnagar, in India’s western state of Gujarat.

    Mr Anant, 28, who also serves as a director on the boards of several Reliance-owned firms, is expected to marry Ms Merchant, 29, the daughter of an industrialist, later in 2024.

    Mr Ambani held the most expensive wedding in India for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost US$100 million and saw US pop megastar Beyonce perform.

    This time, R&B star Rihanna, illusionist David Blaine and Bollywood’s Diljit Dosanjh will perform for the guests, who are expected to include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Meta head Mark Zuckerberg, and several current and former political leaders, according to a list released by Reliance.

    Also among the invitees is Disney chief Robert Iger, following a deal agreed on Feb 28 between Reliance Industries and Walt Disney to merge their Indian media businesses.

    The merger will create a US$8.5 billion entertainment giant in the world’s most populous nation and fifth-largest economy.

    Other guests invited include Ms Ivanka Trump, former US president Donald Trump’s daughter, as well as former Swedish prime minister Carl Bildt, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper and the King of Bhutan.

    Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan, cricket icons Sachin Tendulkar and M.S. Dhoni, and industry titan Gautam Adani are also invited in a who’s-who of India’s super-rich elite.

    The Ambanis are building a Hindu temple complex in Jamnagar, to keep “India’s rich cultural and spiritual identity at the heart of the wedding festivities”, the Reliance Foundation said on social media.

    The main celebrations, running from March 1-3, will have different themes, events and dress codes – including a “jungle fever” day with a visit to an animal rescue centre run by Mr Ambani, the Hindustan Times newspaper reported. AFP

  • Billionaire Mukesh Ambani buys Dubai’s most expensive villa for $163 million

    Billionaire Mukesh Ambani buys Dubai’s most expensive villa for $163 million

    India’s second-richest man is expanding his Dubai real estate portfolio with the acquisition of a new beachfront mansion, shattering his previous record for the most expensive residential real estate transaction in the city in a couple of months.

    According to reports, Mukesh Ambani purchased the Palm Jumeirah property from the family of Kuwaiti tycoon Mohammed Alshaya last week for approximately $163 million.

    Starbucks, H&M, and Victoria’s Secret have local franchises owned by Alshaya’s company. Ambani, whose net worth is $84 billion, is the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., the largest firm in India by market value.

    The tycoon has been buying up properties abroad and is increasingly searching for second residences in the west. According to Bloomberg, Ambani is looking into purchasing a home in New York and Reliance spent $79 million last year purchasing Stoke Park, a renowned country club in the United Kingdom.

    According to Bloomberg, the $80 million mansion that Ambani bought earlier this year is only a short stroll from his most recent purchase in Dubai. Until another mansion on the palm-shaped island sold for $82.4 million, that transaction represented the largest residential sale in the history of the city.

    This Thursday, the Dubai Land Department reported a $163 million real estate transaction in Palm Jumeirah without identifying the purchaser. Reliance’s spokesman declined to comment, and Alshaya’s representatives did not respond to calls for comment.

  • 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.