Meet the Ambanis, who live in a $1 billion skyscraper and are hosting another lavish wedding

Tue, 07/09/2024 - 06:21

richest family Asia ambanis — The Ambanis live in a $1 billion skyscraper in Mumbai.
Reuters, Getty, AP; Shayanne Gal/Business Insider

Mukesh Ambani is worth $121 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The world's 11th-richest person controls India's Reliance Industries.
The Ambanis live in a 27-story skyscraper in Mumbai thought to have cost $1 billion.

Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in India and 11th-richest person in the world, is kicking off pre-wedding celebrations for his son Anant this weekend.

Mukesh Ambani is worth $121 billion per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

He's the owner and chairman of Reliance Industries, a massive conglomerate that includes telecom arm Jio Platforms, which has been thriving due to a "flurry" of investments in recent years, per Fortune.

The Ambanis made headlines in 2018 for throwing one of the most lavish wedding celebrations ever for Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal. It included a private Beyoncé concert and celebrity guests including Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, Hillary Clinton, and Arianna Huffington.

In March the family is staging an extravagant three-day pre-wedding celebration for Anant, Mukesh Ambani's youngest son. Tech heavyweights such as Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg were among the 1,200 guests attending the festivities, The Guardian reported. Rihanna performed at one of the celebrations.

The Ambani family home in Mumbai is a 27-story skyscraper that cost an estimated $1 billion to build.

Here's a look at the Ambani family's fortune, relationships, friends, and lavish lifestyles.

Katie Warren contributed to an earlier version of this story.

The Ambanis are one of Asia's richest families.

ambani family — Akash Ambani, Anant Ambani, Isha Ambani, Nita Ambani, and Mukesh Ambani.
Reuters

The family patriarch, Mukesh Ambani, has an estimated net worth of $121 billion, making him the 11th-richest person in the world, according to Bloomberg.

The Indian family's massive wealth began with Dhirubhai Ambani, who founded Reliance Industries to manufacture fabrics and textiles.

Source: Bloomberg, Fortune

Reliance Industries is worth nearly $260 billion, and is one of the most valuable companies in India.

Source: Bloomberg, Fortune

Dhirubhai died in 2002 at age 69 without a will, leaving his company to be run by his sons Mukesh and Anil.

ambani funeral — Mukesh and Anil Ambani carry their father's body to a crematorium in Bombay in July 2002.
Reuters

Source: Bloomberg

A bitter succession battle between the two brothers followed their father's death and resulted in a rivalrous relationship between Mukesh and Anil.

mukesh anil ambani — Brothers Mukesh and Anil Ambani.
Getty Images

Ultimately, Mukesh was left in charge of the majority of Reliance.

In 2005, the brothers agreed to split control, with Mukesh overseeing oil and gas operations.

Anil took over construction, telecommunications, asset management, entertainment and power generation businesses.

Anil Ambani is chairman of Reliance Group but has only a fraction of his older brother's wealth.

Bloomberg reported that 2018 saw Anil's businesses suffer from "legal and liquidity challenges."

Indian media reported in September 2018 that Anil's "cash-strapped" Reliance Communications will quit the telecom business and turn to real estate.

In early 2020, Anil told a UK court that his net worth was in fact "zero" and that he was bankrupt.

Mukesh Ambani is married to Nita Ambani.

Nita is the chair of Reliance Foundation, the company's charitable organization.

She's also involved with the company's sports ventures as well as marketing and branding strategy for Reliance Jio Infocomm, Reliance's mobile network operator.

Nita and Mukesh have three children, with the youngest Anant, 29

anant nita mukesh ambani — Anant Ambani with his parents Nita and Mukesh.
Associated Press

Then there are 32-year-old twins Isha and Akash Ambani.

Akash is a board member at Reliance Jio. Both he and his twin sister studied at Ivy League universities in the US, Akash at Brown University ...

Akash is married to his high school sweetheart, Shloka Mehta, the daughter of a well-known diamond merchant. Mehta reportedly studied at Princeton University and the London School of Economics.

Source: Forbes, South China Morning Post

They were married in Mumbai in March 2019.

akash ambani wedding — Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta at their wedding.
Milind Shelte/The India Today Group via Getty Images

Akash's twin sister, Isha, is on the board of Reliance Retail, and is a co-director for the telecoms arm Jio.

isha ambani — Isha Ambani in New York City in 2017.
Getty Images

She previously worked at management consulting firm McKinsey in New York.

Source: Business Insider

Isha married Anand Piramal in December 2018.

Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal — Isha Ambani, the daughter of the Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani, and her husband Anand Piramal, heir to a real-estate and pharmaceutical business, pose during their wedding reception in Mumbai, India, December 14, 2018.
Reuters

Source: Business Insider

The pre-wedding celebrations included a private concert by Beyoncé.

beyonce renaissance tour — Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood

A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce)Dec 9, 2018 at 11:47am PST

Source: Business Insider

The wedding ceremony was held at the Ambani residence in Mumbai.

isha ambani wedding mukesh ambani — Mukesh Ambani and Nita Ambani with Isha Ambani and her new husband at their wedding reception.
Reuters

Source: Business Insider

An estimated 600 guests attended the extravagant wedding, which some reports said cost about $100 million. A Reliance spokesman said it cost no more than $15 million.

isha ambani wedding — The marriage procession of Isha Ambani seen outside the Ambani home in Mumbai on December 12, 2018.
Getty Images

Source: Forbes

Vintage cars carried guests during the wedding procession.

Brothers Akash and Anant rode in on horseback.

The celebration included dance performances and sightings of many high-profile guests ...

... including former Secretary of State and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton with her longtime aide, Huma Abedin

hillary clinton ambani wedding — Associated Press

... actor Priyanka Chopra and her husband, Nick Jonas ...

priyanka chopra nick jonas ambani wedding — Reuters

The Ambanis family live in a 27-story skyscraper in Mumbai that cost an estimated $1 billion called Antilia, named after a mythical Atlantic island.

Source: Business Insider

Antilia includes swimming pools, ballrooms, a garden that spans three floors, six floors of parking, and three helipads. A staff of 600 run the home.

antilia ambani home mumbai — Antilia decorated and lit up for the wedding of Isha Ambani.
Reuters

Source: Business Insider

Trees surrounding the skyscraper were decorated for Isha's wedding.

Source: Business Insider

Isha and her husband moved into a bungalow in Mumbai called Gulita.

Source: Reuters

Mukesh Ambani's three children are all involved in the family business, but succession plans remain unclear.

Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant threw more glitzy pre-wedding parties in June.

Anant Ambani wearing a black jacket and Radhika Merchant wearing a light blue sari — Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant
Getty Images

The couple and a large group of their guests went on a luxury cruise that stopped over in Cannes, France and Portofino, Italy. They took over a plaza where Italian singer Andrea Bocelli performed, the Hindustan Times reported.

Pop star Katy Perry performed some of her hits, including "Firework," in Cannes. Other video clips shared online show the Backstreet Boys and Pitbull took to the stage as part of the pre-wedding festivities.

The couple's wedding is expected to be held from July 12 to 14.

Anant Ambani (R), son of Indian businessman Mukesh Dhirubhai Amani, and Radhika Merchant pose for pictures during the inauguration of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) at the Jio World Centre (JWC) in Mumbai. — Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani.
SUJIT JAISWAL/AFP via Getty Images

Last weekend the couple held a "sangeet" ceremony, which is usually a part of a wedding celebration and includes musical performances.

BBC News reported that Justin Bieber flew to Mumbai to perform for guests.

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Meet the Ambanis, who live in a $1 billion skyscraper and are hosting another l…