The stock market rout has caused the country’s five richest, led by Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, to lose more than $10 billion in just about a fortnight. Besides Ambani, those who saw billions of dollars being wiped off include younger brother Anil, realty giant DLF’s Kushal Pal Singh, Bharti group chairman Sunil Mittal and Wipro Chairman Azim Premji.
India’s five richest individuals, based on the value of their stock holdings, have seen their cumulative wealth plummeting by $10.05 billion since July 27, the day the bourses began their slide on concerns over the US sub-prime lending market, which has since spread across the world.
Since July 27, the richest five, who account for more than one-tenth of the total wealth invested in stock market, have shared nearly one-fifth the total market capitalisation loss of $52 billion. Their combined wealth has gone down to $116.75 billion (about Rs 4,72,256 crore), from a high of $126.8 billion on July 26.
Mukesh Ambani, the richest of all, saw the biggest fall with his net worth plummeting by $2.6 billion from $40.5 billion (Rs 1,63,000 crore) on July 26 to $37.9 billion (Rs 1,53,200 crore) on August 10.
