Five Indians in World’s Most Powerful List

As the world population goes beyond 7 billion, Forbes has come up with the list of 70 World’s Most Powerful People. It’s time to raise the champagne as the Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are ranked among the top 20 powerful people in the world. While Mukesh Ambani and Lakshmi Mittal are also included in the list, Azim Premji is the latest Indian entrant.

U.S. President Barack Obama gained the title this year by pushing back China’s President Hu Jintao to 3rd position. In spite of his struggles with the latest political affairs, Obama relics the position of the head of the state of the world’s biggest and most dynamic economy and is the commander-in-chief of the planet’s deadliest military; therefore, he can indirectly be stated as the leader of the free world.

Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest name in the list holding the 9th position. He took the biggest leap this year,as he jumped 30 positions ahead from 40 in 2010. Dawood Ibrahim, who headed criminal activities in Mumbai and allegedly provides financial support to terrorists, is ranked at 57th position in the list.

Disappointment embraced a few people as they fell off the list this year. Oprah Winfrey, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the disgraced French politician and Naoto Kan, the former prime minister of Japan is a few to name. Ratan Tata could not retain his position in the list this year.

Though Sonia Gandhi dropped from 9th to 11th position, she still managed to hold her name in the list. India’s most powerful politician was recently out of the country to seek medical treatment while Anna Hazare’s hunger strikes shivered the whole nation. Among other titles, she is also ranked the 7th most powerful women in the world in the Forbes list. Gandhi is the real power behind the throne, grooming her 40-year-old son Rahul for prime ministerial role.

The Prime Minister of India is considered to be the most incorruptible figure in Indian politics today. The Cambridge and Oxford educated economist has a great input in India’s economic reforms which has led to the growth of the country in recent times. Manmohan Singh was at the 18th position in the 2010 list and this year he is dropped to the 19th position.

 The second richest man in Asia and the ninth richest man in the world, Mukesh Ambani, is also among the world’s most powerful people, and is positioned at No. 35. Bagging many awards of honor, Ambani’s Reliance industries signed a $7.2 billion deal with BP that obtained 30 percent in 23 of its oil and gas blocks in India. Reliance shares dropped by 11 percent as government auditors suspected the contract as it has violated some terms developing some of the blocks.

The world’s largest steel maker, Lakshmi Mittal is the 47th powerful person in the world. His shares in ArcelorMittal are net worth of $6.9 billion and he looks forward to expand his company’s mining interest by buying Canadian miner Baffinland Iron Mines in January. The company partnered with Peabody Energy to buy Australia’s Macarthur Coal for $4.9 billion. Said to be one of the richest men in India, his daughter’s wedding was the most expensive in the recorded history of the world. The latest entrant in the list is the philanthropist Azim Premji. He now captures the 61st position in the list which belonged to Ratan Tata last year. Wipro with around $7 billion dollars is not performing up to the mark of late and the company’s chief co-executive was replaced by another Wipro insider to command the revenue growth. The company recently acquired the oil and gas IT services business of U.S. based Science Applications International Corporation for $150 million. Azim Premji has made a donation of shares worth $2 billion to fund his educational charity last December.

Related articles

• Forbes ‘Most Powerful People’ List: Obama regains No.1, Sonia Gandhi & Manmohan Singh in Top 20! (trak.in)
• Forbes list Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian (kish.in)

Indian Billionaires’ Private Jets

There has been a sturdy increase in the number of Indian millionaires and billionaires in the past few years. With the increase in wealth, their choices seem to be reaching the skies. So what if you own a Rolls-Royce? It’s kaput if you do not own a jet! When you are a billionaire, you merely cannot feel comfortable soaring on a commercial plane with other equally well-off people.

It’s surprising though, that India has almost double the number of private jets compared to China that has many more billionaires. And the other interesting fact is that none of these private jets are second hand (Donald trump bought a Boeing 757 model from Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen). Here are a few Indian billionaires” own jet stories on the run (way).

Mukesh Ambani

How can anybody talk about Indian billionaires and not mention Mukesh Ambani? A mix between a (flying) hotel and a boardroom is what the Managing director of Reliance Industries owns. Boeing Business Jet 2 is the 1,004 sqft plane with a complete executive office and a private bedroom suite and is worth $73 million (approx 327 crore). Ambani also owns a Falcon 900EX jet and an Airbus 319 which has been custom-fitted with an office, a cabin with game consoles, music systems, satellite television and wireless communications.

 

Atul Punj

The Punj Lloyd Group Chairman owns a Gulfstream IV that has been updated and has an aerodynamically and structurally improved wing with 30 percent fewer parts. The aircraft can fit upto two beds, a shower and a luxury living room space.

 

Anil Ambani

Anil Ambani can boast about his hanger crowded with a Global Express jet, a Falcon 2000 and falcon 7X. Anil’s global express is an ultra-long range business jet developed by Bombardier Aerospace which has also developed jets for Bill Clinton and Steven Speilberg. It also has customized interior layouts including an office and a stateroom. The Bombardier can fly over 5,950 nautical miles. It boats a 14.73 m-long cabin and is equipped with noise and vibration control system.

 

Vijay Mallya

How can the owner of Kingfisher Airlines not own a jet? Infact he owns four! He owns an A319 ACJ and has spent $40 Million on retro-fitting and fire proof upholstery. He also owns a Gulfstream, a Hawker and a Boeing 727.

 

Lakshmi Mittal

With a projected wealth of $17 billion, the steel baron uses his Gulfstream G550 to move around three countries in a day. It reaches up to 675 miles per hour, and has space for eight passengers. It also comes with a military-style “heads-up” display technology that allows pilots to take their eyes off the control panel. The NRI’s Gulfstream is considered to be the Rolls Royce of private jets.

 

Gautam Singhania

The Chairman of Raymond Group, Gautam Singhania owns a Challenger business jet and a helicopter. The Challenger’s features include an advanced Collins ProLine IV EFIS avionics system with colour displays, and enhanced fuel tank. International aircraft interior designer Eric Roth is the master mind of the beige and brown interiors of Gautam Singhania’s private jet.

 

 

Richest men cry on Stock market crash

Last week has been a nightmare for all who were banking on their golden goose – the stock market. The sensex came tumbling down and crashing of points was a nothing but a catastrophe. The Dow Jones Index of Wall Street in New York dropped by nearly 9.13 percent about 634.76 points. Some of the experts say that it is just a ‘correction’, but some say it is a ‘crash’. Richest men in the world have nothing but to agree that it was a disastrous crash as they have lost a bomb in the last week. Here is the list of the losses incurred by the richest men.

1. Lakshmi Mittal:

Britain’s richest man became the nation’s biggest loser this week as 164 billion pound was wiped off British shares in a single week. Indian-origin steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal took the biggest hit. The world’s largest steel maker Lakshmi Mittal lost 2.16 billion pound following a calamitous six days on stock markets. The share price of Mittal’s company Arcelor Mittal, of which he owns 40.83 percent, plummeted 18.7 percent this week reducing the value of his fortune to 9.7 billon pound.

2. Carlos Slim:

Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, lost about $6.7 billion in the last week. The Mexican billionaire’s stock portfolio, measured in U.S. dollars, has dropped about 9.5 percent

since July 29 and is valued at about $64.4 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The drop in Slim’s portfolio has also affected the Mexico’s benchmark IPC index. The U.S. economy has taken worldwide indexes in its whirl as it is hurting its southern you can see it has taken its southern counter part as well. America Movil SAB, the biggest wireless carrier in U.S. which is Slim’s largest asset, has declined a relatively 6 percent this week.

3. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett:

The world’s second richest and third richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett also saw a depressing week. Before the Dow Jones made a small recovery on Friday,Gates’s Microsoft Corp slid a significant 5 percent while Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway dropped 4.3 percent.

4. Ivan Glasenberg:

Commodities trader Ivan Glasenberg, who heads up Glencore International, also had a miserable week although not as bad as Mittal. He lost 788 million pounds as his share price plummeted 13.2 percent leaving his 15.8 percent of the company worth 4.7 billion pounds.

5. Mike Ashley:

Owner of Sports Direct International and Newcastle Football Club, lost 203.4 million pounds.
The market falls meant a staggering $2.75 trillion has been wiped off world stocks and shares in ten days and has sparked fears of a new global recession.