South Korean media: The unimaginable Indian billionaires!

On December 24, the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo published an article stating that in 2004, Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal rented the entire Palace of Versailles to hold a week-long engagement party for his daughter. It used 12 private jets to entertain guests, costing as much as $500 million. In 2024, the wedding of the youngest son of Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group, also attracted many celebrities such as Lee Jae-yong, chairman of Samsung Group, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg. Pop star Justin Bieber received a fee of $10 million for performing at the wedding. This is what unimaginable Indian billionaires look like.

Everyday life is even more surreal. Chairman Mukesh Ambani's mansion in Mumbai has 27 floors, with a height equivalent to a 60-story apartment building (173 meters). About ten members of the Ambani family live there, but there are as many as 600 staff members. The mansion includes three helipads, a theater that can accommodate 50 people, and a "snow room" where visitors can experience a snowy scene even in the summer. The monthly electricity bill alone exceeds $130,000. This is more like a palace than a home.

There are 200 Indian billionaires with assets exceeding $1 billion, ranking third globally, behind the United States (813 people) and China (406 people). Ambani and Adani are the two richest in India, with assets exceeding $100 billion each. Under such a huge wealth gap, the speed and scale of capital accumulation by Indian billionaires are astonishing.

Their ways of making money are completely different. The chaebols in South Korea and Japan accumulated huge wealth through exporting smartphones and cars, while Indian billionaires focus on the "domestic market." Although they don't have a single export brand, they control all aspects of the lives of 1.4 billion people, including food and transportation. This is why they are called "toll-road companies." Adani monopolizes ports and airports, while Ambani monopolizes the telecommunications and refining industries. This is a oligarchic growth model, where the Indian government concentrates infrastructure resources into a few large companies. Since India has 1.4 billion people, Indian billionaires have little incentive to expand beyond the domestic market.

Original article: toutiao.com/article/1852351177624649/

Statement: This article represents the views of the author.