The dynamic landscape of Asia’s wealthy has always captured the world’s attention, with some impressive names making their way onto the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List. But have you ever wondered who tops the Asian rich list? Not surprisingly, the richest person in Asia, as of September 2024, is Mukesh Ambani, with a staggering net worth of $117.9 billion. The list of the richest Asians stretches beyond borders. In this article, we present an overview of Asia’s richest people in 2024.
Top 10 richest people in Asia
The real-time World Billionaires list compiled by Forbes shows the top 10 richest people in Asia as of September 23, 2024. Also see the top 10 richest women in the world in 2024. Rank and Name Net Worth (USD Billion) Country Source of Wealth
#1 Mukesh Ambani 117.9 India Reliance Industries, Reliance Jio, Network 18, etc.
#2 Gautam Adani 84.4 India Adani Enterprises, Adani Ports, Adani Green Energy etc.
#3 Prajogo Pangestu 53.7
Indonesia Barito Pacific Group #4 Tadashi Yanai and family 47.1
Japan Fast Retailing #5 Zhang Yiming 45.6
China Bytedance, TikTok
#6 Chung Rui-rui 45.1
China Farmer’s Spring #7 Savitri Jindal and family 43.8 India
JSW Group
#8 Ma Huateng
41.8
China Tencent Holdings #9 Shiv Nadar
39.2 India
HCL Technologies, Coforge Limited
#10 Li Ka-shing 36.5
Hong Kong
CK Asset Holdings and CK Hutchison Holdings
Deeper insight: Asia’s richest people in 2024
Mukesh Ambani
Age: 67 Residence: Mumbai, India Nationality: Indian Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, is the richest man in Asia. He entered the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 as the owner of Mumbai Indians. Reliance’s communications and broadband service, Jio, has already attracted nearly 476 million subscribers, but the debut of Jio Financial Services in August reflects the company’s expanding horizons. Additionally, BlackRock and Jio Financial Services announced an agreement to set up Jio BlackRock, a joint venture that will provide advanced and innovative investment solutions to Indian investors, in July 2023. Also see Top 10 Richest Women in India in 2024.
Gautam Adani
Age: 62 Residence: Ahmedabad, India Nationality: Indian Gautam Adani heads the Adani Group, a Rs 16.22 lakh crore business spanning ports, airports, energy and environmental activities. What started as a trading company in 1988 is now one of Asia’s richest men. He has made his mark as India’s leading airport operator and the manager of Gujarat’s vital Mundra port. Moreover, his strategic acquisition of Holcim’s Indian assets in 2022 has propelled him to the position of India’s second-largest cement producer.
Prajogo Pangestu
Age: 80
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
Nationality: Indonesia Energy and petrochemical tycoon Prajogo Pangestu is Indonesia’s richest man. He started out in the timber business, but now his company PT Barito Pacific is one of Indonesia’s leaders in petrochemicals, plastic production, mining and thermal energy. His wealth increased significantly in 2023 as two of his group’s companies, Petrindo Jaya Kureasi and Barito Renewables Energy, went public.
Tadashi Yanai and his family
Age: 75 Residence: Tokyo, Japan Nationality: Japan Tadashi Yanai is the driving force behind the prominent Tokyo-listed clothing empire Fast Retailing, which oversees the Uniqlo chain. Fast Retailing’s portfolio includes brands such as Theory, Helmut Lang, J Brand, and GU. In particular, flagship brand Uniqlo has a vast presence with over 2,400 stores in 25 countries, and Tadashi Yanai is ranked as one of the top 10 richest people in Asia. After opening its first store in Mumbai, India in October 2023, Uniqlo is now aiming to grow and become the top brand in India, understanding the fierce competition from domestic and international brands.
Zhang Yiming
Age: 40 Residence: Beijing, China Nationality: Chinese Zhang Yiming, the driving force behind Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is best known as the creator of the wildly popular app TikTok, which boasts a staggering user base of over 1 billion people worldwide. As of May 2024, Zhang owns 21% of ByteDance’s shares. However, its value is unclear due to the possibility of TikTok being banned in the United States. Recently, the US Congress passed a new law that gives the US government the power to ban TikTok. Beyond TikTok’s fame, ByteDance has expanded into a variety of sectors, including news, education, and gaming.
Mount Zhongshan
Age: 69 Residence: Hangzhou, China Nationality: China Zhong Ruirui, founder of bottled water company Nongfu Spring, is the third richest person in Asia and one of the richest Chinese. From construction to journalism to beverage sales, he has worked his way up to entrepreneurship. He also has influence in Beijing Wantai Bio-Pharmaceutical, which produces rapid diagnostic tests for the new coronavirus.
Savitri Jindal and family
Age: 74 Residence: Hisar, India Nationality: Indian Widow of founder Om Prakash Jindal, Savitri Jindal currently serves as Chairperson of the Jindal Group, which includes steel, power, cement and infrastructure. After the death of late OP Jindal, the group’s companies were divided between his sons. They now run them independently. Her son Sajjan Jindal, who lives in Mumbai, manages the most important assets of the group. She is not only one of the richest Asians but also the richest woman in India. Savitri Jindal continues her husband’s legacy of supporting society and the community by contributing to areas such as education, healthcare, and more.
Ma Huateng
Age: 52 Residence: Shenzhen, China Nationality: Chinese Ma Huateng, known as Pony Ma, heads Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings. He oversees the widely used messaging app WeChat, which has 1.2 billion active users, and is one of the richest people in Asia. Not only that, but Tencent has huge interests in global gaming through its stake in Epic Games, making it one of the top video game publishers. Ma’s influence also extends to Tesla and Spotify through Tencent’s investments. Notably, he recently revealed plans for Tencent to develop new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for the broader benefit of humanity.
Shiv Nadar
Age: 79 Residence: New Delhi, India Nationality: Indian Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Technologies, is one of India’s most prominent figures in the IT and software sector. He is currently Chairman Emeritus of HCL Technologies and retired as Chairman of the company in 2020. In addition to his business acumen and leadership abilities, Nadar is also known for his philanthropic efforts. He donated Rs 2,042 crore in 2023, approximately Rs 5.6 crore per day. His total donations to the Shiv Nadar Foundation exceed $1 billion. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third-highest civilian award, by the Government of India.
Li Ka-shing
Age: 96 Residence: Hong Kong Nationality: Hong Kong One of Asia’s richest men, Li Ka-shing began his journey in 1950 at the age of 21 when he founded Cheung Kong Plastics, named after the Yangtze River, with $6,500 in savings and loans from relatives. The Li Ka-shing Foundation’s generosity is remarkable, having donated more than $3.8 billion to various causes, the majority of which is directed to greater China. Notably, Li Ka-shing’s controlled CK Hutchison Holdings and Vodafone Group recently agreed to merge their respective British telecommunications businesses to create China’s largest mobile phone company. ))>
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