BILLIONS LOST

The Rich Are Now Poorer

Sensex back at 20K, but many billionaires have nothing to celebrate

Rajesh Mascarenhas MUMBAI

IN OCTOBER 2007, when the Sensex first scaled the 20,000 peak, ADAG chairman Anil Ambani was the second-richest man in India. His holdings in listed companies were valued at 1.55 lakh crore. The Sensex inched past the same peak again on Tuesday, but Mr Ambani’s personal wealth is now not even half of what it was almost three years ago. He is not the only billionaire to have lost out in this bull market. Others, including Mukesh Ambani, Sunil Mittal, KP Singh, GM Rao and Uday Kotak, are all poorer now, by a few thousand crores at least, even though the Sensex is back at 20K. Eleven of India’s richest 20 (as on October 2007) are now worth far less. The combined wealth of these 20 billionaires has dropped from 10.2 lakh crore to 8.54 lakh crore.
THE SENSEX IS SIZZLING AGAIN, BUT MANY OF INDIA’S RICH ARE NOW POORER