Mukesh Ambani Won the World’s Most Expensive Sibling Rivalry

Even by the sky-high standards of Indian nuptials, the wedding of Akash Ambani and Shloka Mehta in March of last year was ambitious. The festivities began in the Swiss Alps, with inner-circle guests flown by private jet to St. Moritz, where the diversions included a winter carnival and a performance by Coldplay’s Chris Martin. Then it was back to Mumbai for three days of events, culminating in a grand reception that took over a brand-new convention center. It had been transformed for the occasion into a fantasia of undulating columns, fountains, and screens composed from vivid sheets of live flowers. In one spot, an ingeniously designed peacock sculpture fanned out its floral plumage for the amusement of passersby. The centerpiece was a giant statue of the Hindu god Krishna, made entirely of plants.

The cost was easily in the tens of millions of dollars, but for Akash’s father, Mukesh, it was pocket change. Mukesh is the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., which owns oil refineries, chemical plants, supermarkets, and India’s largest mobile network. With a personal net worth of about $53 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Mukesh is the richest person in Asia and, apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, probably India’s most powerful citizen. The economic centrality of Reliance, which accounts for almost 10% of India’s total exports, is difficult to overstate. In American terms, it’s as though Dow Chemical, AT&T, Exxon Mobil, and Amazon were a single conglomerate. Even the coronavirus pandemic has barely slowed it down. While the collapse in oil prices battered Reliance stock, it’s recouped almost all the losses, thanks in part to a $5.7 billion deal to sell a stake in its digital arm to Facebook Inc.