Meet Indian billionaire heir Anant Ambani whose father’s fortune is valued at over US$182 billion

In July 2024, billionaire heir Anant Ambani got married in one of India’s most anticipated – and historically, most lavish – weddings of the year. 

He is the son of Asia’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, with a fortune worth more than US$182 billion. According to Forbes, he is the 18th richest person in the world – the first Asian, following behind multiple Americans, a Frenchman, and a Spaniard, who are giants in their own right. 

Many know Mukesh’s story.

Despite their enormous fortune now, the Ambani family’s story is one of rags to riches.

Dhirubhai Ambani, Mukesh’s father, emerged in the 1950s with a newly formed company called Reliance Commercial Corporation, and history wrote itself from there onwards. 

Today, Reliance Industries is a multinational conglomerate working in multiple sectors, such as energy, petrochemicals, natural gas, retail, entertainment, telecommunications, mass media, and textiles. 

Back then, the Ambani family was crammed into a two-bedroom apartment in Bhuleshwar, Mumbai. Fast-forward to 2023 — they live in Antilia, a 400,000 sqft mansion with 27 floors, 600 servants, and a six-storeyed garage. 

Now with the Ambani family once again making headlines for their son’s extravagant weddings, all eyes are turning to Anant Ambani, the youngest son of India’s biggest business tycoon.

But is he more than just the heir to a billion-dollar conglomerate?

They say the youngest sibling always gets the best. This may be true for the Ambani family. Source: AFP

Who is Anant Ambani?

Anant Ambani is the youngest of three children and, along with his siblings, one of the heirs to the Reliance Industries empire. He currently holds several directorial roles on both local and international company boards.

His father, Mukesh, delegated his twin children, Akash and Isha, for telecom and retail leadership, while Anant is in charge of the new energy unit.

Now, Anant oversees Jio Platforms Ltd, Reliance Retail Ventures, and Reliance New Solar Energy. His role largely involves driving Reliance Industries’ expansion in the energy and materials businesses and its global operations in renewable and green energy.

In his spare time, he is passionate about animal welfare and is currently involved with several initiatives to rehabilitate and care for animals.

He launched Vantara, an animal shelter spanning an impressive 3,000 acres within Reliance’s Jamnagar Refinery Complex, often referred to as the Green Belt of Gujarat. It is his ambitious wildlife preservation project which aims to shelter and rehabilitate abused, injured and endangered animals.

As the youngest Ambani, it’s no surprise that Anant has a close relationship with his family. He is very friendly with his father and looks up to his siblings as inspirational mentors – so much so that he actually followed in their footsteps and went overseas to study at an Ivy League Institute. 

The Ambani family believed in more than just wealth and glory – education was a large part of their lives too. Source: AFP

Education shaped Anant Ambani to be who he is today

At first glance, many may just think that Anant landed his position because of who his father is.

While it is true that he was born into great wealth, Mukesh made it a point to teach all his children about the value of money and humility – during his schooling days at Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Anant received only five rupees (US$0.06) a week as pocket money.

What really shaped him as a person was his education.

Anant wasn’t just riding on the coattails of his family’s success – Mukesh spared no effort in ensuring his children grew up to be intelligent, investing heavily in high-quality education for all three of them. 

The matriarch of the family, Nita, also played a crucial part in her children’s upbringing.

In fact, she first met her husband Mukesh when she was still a school teacher, and her love for education never wavered throughout their courtship and marriage. Now, she is the founder and chairperson of the Reliance Foundation, which focuses on education, healthcare, disaster response and rural development in India. 

All this led to Anant growing up to be a kind-hearted, soft-spoken and intelligent man.

Eager for a taste of studying abroad, Anant followed in his elder brother’s footsteps and enrolled in Brown University, an Ivy League institution in Rhode Island in the US. He graduated with a bachelor’s in business management in 2017, which provided him with a solid foundation in the principles of business and economics. 

Despite many people saying that the wealthy can buy their way into Ivy League institutes, the Ambani family are still an inspiration to many Indian students today.

For decades, studying abroad has been a dream for many Indian students who wish to pave a brighter future for themselves and their families. Many aspiring entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and more look up to each member of the Ambani family, and even more fantasise about possessing a fraction of their wealth and power. 

That fortune is only set to grow with the recent nuptials.

Anant Ambani and his newlywedded wife Radhika Merchant were childhood sweethearts with similar affluent backgrounds and educations. They have been reportedly dating since 2018, a year after Anant Ambani returned from studying abroad in the US. 

While the Ambani family’s wealth is impressive, the Merchant family does not fall far behind.

Radhika’s father is also one of the richest billionaires in India, and the Merchant family emphasised education just as much as the Ambanis did – Radhika graduated in political science from New York University, and is the marketing director and heir to pharmaceutical company Encore Healthcare. 

Unsurprisingly, their marriage was more than just a celebration. It’s akin to a show of strength, and of the power they command not just in India, but around the globe.

Anant proposed to Radhika in 2023 at the sacred Shrinathji Temple in Nathdwara, Rajasthan. Source: AFP

A glimpse into Anant Ambani’s wedding – an extravagant affair 

For months, the Ambani family has held incredible pre-wedding celebrations that have sent the worldwide media into a frenzy. 

These celebrations involved high-profile guests like Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, elaborate drone light shows above a custom-built glass palace, a specially built Hindu temple, and even a multi-day cruise for friends and family throughout Europe. 

In fact, the Ambani family even organised a private concert with international stars such as Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, the Backstreet Boys, Pitbull, and more. Reports say that Justin Bieber was flown out by the family just for the occasion, and paid a whopping US$10 million for the gig.

Even Rihanna, who is now better known as the entrepreneur behind her hit brand Fenty Beauty, pulled out her dusty microphone to perform a full set for the first time in eight years.

This turned out to be a great business opportunity, as Rihanna was reportedly paid US$6 million for her performance while signing a deal with beauty retailer Nykaa to launch her beauty brand in the country after her performance for the Ambani family went viral. 

All this and more led up to the even grander wedding ceremony in July, which spanned three whole days. The Ambani family was usually tight-lipped on most details, but that just made the long-awaited marriage ceremony even more extravagant. 

The main ceremony was held at the Jio World Convention Centre, which was transformed to resemble the ancient winding streets and ghats of Varanasi, complete with local craftsmen, street food stalls, bangle sellers, and even astrologers.

No expense was spared for the wedding.

The 27-story Ambani family mansion was adorned top to toe in lights and flowers for the festivities. 

The red carpet rolled out, welcoming star-studded guests such as Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson, John Cena and even the Kardashians.

Many big names in Indian entertainment, sport, business and politics attended as well, from Bollywood stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Rajinikanth and Sanjay Dutt, to former president Ram Nath Kovind, various state ministers and athletes from India’s renowned cricket team.

Guests were adorned in traditional dress code, with many celebrities wearing designs by major Indian fashion designers. 

The couple themselves were decked out in glittering ensembles.

The groom waltzed in with a golden sherwani paired with sneakers, while the bride wore a bedazzling hand-embroidered bridal gown by Indian label Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla. Family members wore bespoke outfits by one of India’s best-known fashion designers, Manish Malhotra, who served as the event’s creative director. 

That wasn’t all, either.

Anant also surprised his groomsmen and some Bollywood stars, like Rukh Khan and Ranveer Singh, with gleaming watches from Audemars Piguet worth US$200,000 each. Each watch features a 41-mm case made of 18K pink gold and is 9.5 mm thick. It even has a sapphire crystal back and a screw-locked crown.

With all this opulence, there’s no doubt that the wedding ceremony costs millions.

But Mukesh is no stranger to grand weddings – he already holds the record for the most expensive wedding in India to date when his daughter got married in 2018. That ceremony reportedly cost up to US$156 million, and even included a private performance by Beyoncé.

A year later, when his son, Akash, was married, Chris Martin of Coldplay and the Chainsmokers performed during the ceremony.

The recent wedding spectacles have been estimated to cost around US$600 million – but this jaw-dropping sum is merely 0.5% of the Ambani fortune.

No doubt, with the new addition of the Merchant family, the Ambani fortune is only set to grow even further.