Mukesh Ambani to Ratan Tata: Top 7 business tycoons who made headlines in 2019

The year 2019 proved a mixed bag for business leaders across the country. India is home to over 950 billionaires business tycoons including Ambanis, Tatas and Birlas. These business tycoons have shaped the Indian economy and in several ways, the society. From Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) creating history by becoming the first Indian company to breach the Rs 10-trillion valuation mark to Wipro founder Azim Premji stepping down from his post of executive chairman of Wipro, top business tycoon leaders made headlines in 2019.

India Tv News lists top 10 business personalities from across India who made the biggest headlines in 2019:

 Mukesh Ambani

Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries (Ltd) has made headlines several time. Mukesh Ambani's RIL created history in the stock market by becoming the first Indian company to breach the Rs 10-trillion valuation mark.

RIL also replaced Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) to emerge as the number-one Indian company in revenue terms on 2019 Fortune 500 list. In August 2019, RIL entered into a joint venture with BP plc for its fuel retail business in India.

Mukesh Ambani, Asia’s richest man, enjoyed an amazing run in 2019 as he added almost $17 billion to his wealth as of December 23. His total net worth now stands at a mammoth $60.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Ratan Tata

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Ratan Tata, Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group and one of India's leading businessman and the patriarch has donned many hats in his illustrious career.

According to the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich list, Tata’s net worth is ₹5,700 crores.

Ratan Tata recently joined Instagram and made headlines as he moved away from his shy and secretive demeanour to join a social media platform.

Tata has been awarded with two of India's highest civilian awards – Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan.

Azim Premji

The 74-year-old czar of the Indian IT industry and founder of Wipro, Azim Premji made headlines in 2019 by stepping down from his post of executive chairman and Managing Director of Wipro in July.

Azim Premji who turned Wipro from a cooking oil company into an $8.5 billion IT behemoth, had served as the executive chairman of Wipro for a long period of 53 years.

The third richest Indian with a wealth of ₹1,17,100 crore according to the latest IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List, Premji has famously given away ₹50,000 crore to philanthropic activities.

Anand Mahindra

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The chairman of the Mahindra & Mahindra is in the news almost every other day and all thanks to his witty tweets and also the job offers he hands out through social media. Anand Mahindra's net worth is  ₹8,200 crores,

Anand Mahindra will transition to the role of non-executive chairman from 1 April 2020.

Mahindra had also made headlines when he announced his decision to ban plastic bottles in the boardrooms of his company. He is one of the most social media savvy billionaires in India.

Gautam Adani

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Billionaire Gautam Adani, a college dropout, is known as the ports tycoon of India. The 57-year-old runs Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, Adani Transmissions and Adani Gas.

Adani has been in the spotlight several timesin year 2019 – from his bid for the now bankrupt DHFL to him winning the rights to develop its Charmichael coal mine in Queensland, Australia after a decade long court battle.

Gautam Adani is the man behind one of India's largest infrastructure companies worth ₹4700 crore – the Adani Group. Adani is the fifth richest person in India with a net worth of ₹94,500 crore, according to Hurun Ruch List.

Radhakishan Damani

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Radhakishan Damani is called India's retail giant who runs Avenue Supermarts, that operates D-Mart retail stores. A college dropout, Damani has a total net wealth of ₹43,200 crores. Damani had started his career as a stock broker and from a single store in 2002 to building a retail legacy in the country.

In the Forbes list of top 10 richest Indians, Radhakishan Damani holds the fourth spot.

Uday Kotak

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The 60-year-old  billionaire banker Uday Kotak is the managing director and CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank. Asia’s richest banker, Kotak has a total net worth of $11.8 billion. In fact, Kotak wealth grew over three times from $3 billion in 2010 to $ 11.8 billion in 2019. This quick rise in riches came from the increased value of his shareholding in Kotak Mahindra Bank.

Kotak also came under the spotlight as he was chosen by the Indian government to lead the beleaguered financing giant IL&FS out of its crisis, which was the biggest financial scandal to explode in the closing months of 2019.