Tycoons’ Wealth Holds Firm At $1 Trillion; Gautam Adani Reclaims No.1 Spot

A change at the top sees infrastructure magnate Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, return to the No. 1 position after three years at No. 2, thanks to a $20.7 billion boost that took his fortune, which he shares with his family, to $112.7 billion. The tycoon, whose group is on a major expansion drive and is investing $100 billion in AI infrastructure, is the biggest gainer in dollar terms, though his family wealth is still below the $150 billion peak it scaled in 2022.

Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of oil-to-telecoms conglomerate Reliance Industries, slips to the second spot with a net worth of $86.3 billion, down $18.7 billion, as margin pressures, including in the retail business, weighed on Reliance shares. Ambani is gearing up for the listing of Reliance’s mobile operator, Jio Platforms, which has secured regulatory approval for an IPO that could raise up to $3.8 billion, potentially making it the country’s largest public offering to date.

India’s richest woman, Savitri Jindal, matriarch of the steel-to-power O.P. Jindal Group, retains the No. 3 spot even though her fortune edges down to $39.8 billion.

The biggest gainer in percentage terms is steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who jumps eight spots to No. 4 with his net worth expanding 74% to $34.7 billion. Mittal made a big splash in the sports arena with his May acquisition, together with vaccine billionaire Cyrus Poonawalla’s son, Adar, of Rajasthan Royals in a deal that valued the Indian Premier League cricket team at $1.65 billion.

The fortunes of more than half the listees decreased. The challenges from AI-led automation faced by India’s software services sector impacted the country’s tech titans. The net worths of Shiv Nadar, chairman emeritus of HCL Technologies, Azim Premji, Wipro’s founder chairman, and N.R. Narayana Murthy, cofounder of Infosys, all declined. Two other Infosys cofounders—chairman Nandan Nilekani and former vice chairman Senapathy Gopalakrishnan—are among 11 who fell from the list.

The four newcomers include Krishna Chivukula, 79, who listed his Bangalore-based precision engineering company, Indo-MIM, in July; brothers Kushal and Chaitanya Desai, who share a $4.25 billion fortune and debut at No. 69 after stock in their cables company, Apar Industries, nearly doubled over the year; Aditya Khemka, who lands at No. 83 with a $3.6 billion family fortune on rising shares in his security and surveillance equipment maker, Aditya Infotech, which went public in 2025; and Bhikhabhai, Chandubhai and Kanjibhai Virani, the siblings behind privately held Balaji Wafers, after they sold a minority stake in the snack maker in January to U.S. private equity firm General Atlantic.

Among the seven returnees this year is Anil Agarwal, who in June unlocked value at his Vedanta mining and metals flagship by splitting it into five listed entities. The minimum net worth to qualify for the list dropped to $3 billion from $3.2 billion last year.

Full Coverage of India’s Richest 2026:

Editing assistance by Naazneen Karmali. Reporting by Gloria Haraito and Yessar Rosendar

Methodology

The list was compiled using shareholding and financial information obtained from the families and individuals, stock exchanges, analysts and India’s regulatory agencies. Unlike our billionaire rankings, this list includes family fortunes, including those shared among extended families such as the Bajaj and Burman families. Net worths are based on stock prices and exchange rates as of the close of markets on Sept. 11, 2026. Private companies are valued based on similar companies that are publicly traded. The list can also include foreign citizens with business, residential or other ties to the country, or citizens who don’t reside in the country but have significant business or other ties to the country. The editors reserve the right to amend any information or remove any listees in light of new information.