Indian billionaire business magnate Mukesh Ambani is celebrating the lavish conclusion of his son’s wedding this week, drawing attention to his enormous wealth but also to India’s rapid economic growth and stark financial inequality.
Ambani’s youngest son Anant and fiancée Radhika Merchant, both 29, are to marry from Friday in a three-day Hindu ceremony in India’s financial capital Mumbai.
Asia’s richest man is no stranger to throwing an expensive wedding.
In 2018, he threw the most expensive wedding to date in India for his daughter, which reportedly cost $143 million and featured American singer Beyoncé.
This week’s lavish festivities are set to raise the bar even higher, with celebrities, politicians and the corporate world flying into the monsoon-hit metropolis of Mumbai.
In preparation for his son’s wedding, multi-day galas were organised, a European cruise for 1,200 guests, a specially built Hindu temple and entertainment provided by pop stars such as Rihanna and Justin Bieber.
Who is Mukesh Ambani?
Ambani, 67, chairman of Reliance Industries, has a fortune of more than $182 billion and is the 11th richest person in the world, according to Forbes’ billionaires list.
He is a key ally of India’s far-right Hindu nationalist leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ambani inherited a thriving industrial enterprise active in the oil, gas and petrochemical sectors.
According to Forbes, Mukesh Ambani is the eleventh richest person in the world. Source: Getty / NurFoto
He built it into a commercial company with lucrative interests in retail, telecommunications and a cricket team that played in the Indian Premier League.
Ambani’s family home Antilia is one of Mumbai’s most striking landmarks.
The 27-story building reportedly cost more than $1.47 billion to build and has a permanent staff of 600 employees. Merchant is the daughter of pharmaceutical moguls.
What did Anant Ambani’s wedding celebrations involve?
The wedding festivities began in March with a three-day gala for over 1,500 guests in the state of Gujarat.
Rihanna performed her first concert since last year’s Super Bowl for wedding guests including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and former U.S. President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka. David Blaine performed magic tricks.
The festivities also included a visit to Ambani’s ‘animal rescue centre’, where exotic animals are kept, and a specially built Hindu temple complex.
Workers decorate the venue in preparation for Anant Ambani’s wedding. Source: MONKEY / Rafiq Maqbool/AP
The second leg in June was a four-day cruise across the Mediterranean with 1,200 guests, Merchant told Vogue.
Singer Katy Perry performed at a masked ball at a French chateau in Cannes, while the Backstreet Boys and American rapper Pitbull also provided entertainment.
DJ David Guetta played at a toga party at sea.
The cruise ended in Portofino, Italy, where tenor Andrea Bocelli serenaded the party in the town square.
The wedding invitation consisted of an intricate box containing a silver shrine.
Merchant’s various dresses were also elaborate.
They included custom designs from Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and a vintage Yves Saint Laurent for Dior, she told Vogue. Another was a flowing chiffon dress printed with a love letter from her fiancé, the magazine reported.
“I want to be able to show it to my children and grandchildren and say, ‘this was our love,’” Merchant said.
Luxurious wedding highlights inequality
India is the fastest growing major economy and the fifth largest in the world. But despite its tremendous progress, the world’s most populous country has a jobs crisis to match.
According to government data, the national income per capita is only $1,736.
India ranked 111 out of 125 countries last year in the Global Hunger Index report, a peer-reviewed measure compiled by European aid agencies.
The lavish and expensive wedding of Mukesh Ambani’s son Anant Ambani has exposed the stark financial inequality. Source: MONKEY / Rafiq Maqbool/AP
According to the World Inequality Lab, one percent of India’s 1.4 billion people earn more than a fifth of their wealth. This income share is among the highest in the world, higher than that of South Africa, Brazil or the United States.
Perhaps to head off criticism, Ambani hosted a party for 50,000 people in his hometown of Jamnagar in Gujarat during the first round of celebrations.
Ambani also organised a mass wedding for 52 “underprivileged” couples near Mumbai and pledged to support “hundreds more such marriages” across India.
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