Mukesh Ambani, India’s richest man, is the biggest loser among the country’s billionaires as the rupee’s slump to record lows erased 24 per cent of his fortune.
The chairman of Reliance Industries, operator of the world’s biggest oil refinery complex, has lost $US5.6 billion ($6.2 billion) of his wealth since May 1, as the rupee’s plunge accelerated. The 56-year-old is still left with a net worth of $US17.5 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
The Indian rupee is the worst-performing major currency in the world in the past month, coming under pressure as international investors sold emerging-market assets amid concern the US will pare its $US85 billion monthly stimulus.
The value of holdings by India’s billionaires are worth less in dollars as the rupee declined and foreign investors sold shares in large-cap companies, said Munesh Khanna, a senior partner at Grant Thornton LLP in Mumbai. ‘‘There is irrationality; the rupee is weak and will go down further,’’ Mr Khanna said.
‘‘Foreign institutional investors are invested in the larger-cap companies and are pulling out money from India. That is putting a lot of pressure on those companies.’’
International investors have sold a net $US3 billion of Indian stocks since June 3, according to the nation’s Securities & Exchange Board.
The S&P BSE Sensex index declined 1.9 per cent to 17,905.91 yesterday, extending its four-day drop to 7.6 per cent, the most since July 2009.
The index was flat in late morning trade today, while the rupee extended its slide, touching an all-time low of 65.13 per US dollar.
Anil Ambani, the younger brother of Mukesh, has lost 17 per cent, or $US1.3 billion, of his net worth since May. Anil Ambani, 54, has a fortune of $US6.3 billion and is the country’s eighth-richest man.
The majority of his wealth is derived from stakes in publicly traded companies, including Reliance Communications, India’s third-largest mobile-phone company by market value.
Reliance Communications reported earlier this month first- quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates after finance costs increased because of the rupee’s weakness against the US dollar.
‘‘Companies with large foreign-currency debt will feel the pressure and their valuations will come down,’’ Mr Khanna said.
Shares of Reliance Industries, Mukesh Ambani’s most valuable asset, declined about 15 per cent from its 2013 peak on July 19 through yesterday.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index is a dynamic measure of the world’s wealthy based on changes in markets, the economy and Bloomberg reporting. Each net worth figure is updated every business day at 5.30pm in New York.
Stakes in publicly traded companies are valued using the share’s most recent closing price. Valuations are converted to US dollars at current exchange rates.
印度盧比近來一路暴跌,印度首富穆凱什·安巴尼很是受傷,其財(cái)富一下縮水24%。
這位印度信實(shí)工業(yè)公司董事長(zhǎng)經(jīng)營(yíng)者世界最大的煉油企業(yè),由于盧比一路狂跌,他自5月1日以來已經(jīng)損失了56億美元。不過這位56歲的富翁依然還有175億美元的財(cái)富。
畢業(yè)于斯坦福大學(xué)商學(xué)院的他性格內(nèi)向,低調(diào)保守, 總稱自己“怕見媒體”。但他在孟買巿使館區(qū)建有豪宅“安蒂拉”卻格外引人矚目,樓高173米,共有27層,造價(jià)達(dá)20億美元,屋頂可停3架直升機(jī),頂樓設(shè)有航管中心。樓內(nèi)設(shè)置9部電梯、泳池、水療與健身房一應(yīng)俱全,還有戶外花園和50席電影院,1到6樓為可停160部車的停車場(chǎng)。
“安蒂拉”總面積約有5個(gè)足球場(chǎng)大,只住了穆凱什一家5口,宅內(nèi)有600名傭人職員負(fù)責(zé)管理照顧。但是,擔(dān)心美國(guó)減少經(jīng)濟(jì)刺激力度,國(guó)際投資商紛紛拋售發(fā)新興市場(chǎng)資產(chǎn),印度盧比遭受重創(chuàng)。
致同會(huì)計(jì)師事務(wù)所孟買高級(jí)合伙人康納預(yù)測(cè),盧比還將進(jìn)一步下跌。他說,外國(guó)機(jī)構(gòu)投資商正在從印度退出資金,帶來巨大的壓力。
據(jù)印度證交會(huì)統(tǒng)計(jì),自從6月3日以來,國(guó)際投資商已經(jīng)拋售30億美元的印度股票。
穆凱什·安巴尼的弟弟、阿尼爾自5月以來?yè)p失13億美元。54歲的阿尼爾為印度第8富翁,約有63億美元的身家。其主要財(cái)富來自公司股票,包括印度第三大移動(dòng)通訊公司。“有外資債務(wù)的公司將感受到壓力,他們的市值將會(huì)下跌,”康納說。
從1986年起,兄弟兩人就開始幫助父親打理集團(tuán)日常事務(wù)。德魯拜去世后不久,穆凱什正式繼任集團(tuán)主席,阿尼爾任副主席、總經(jīng)理。在最初兩年,兄弟倆相安無事。兩人主持集團(tuán)核心的石化產(chǎn)品業(yè)務(wù)多年,完成了不少大型煉油廠和化工廠的建設(shè)項(xiàng)目。
但不和之聲逐漸響起。穆凱什認(rèn)為自己是長(zhǎng)子,理所應(yīng)當(dāng)繼承父親的全部事業(yè);而兄長(zhǎng)實(shí)力的不斷膨脹,使阿尼爾的資產(chǎn)份額和管理決策的能力逐漸被掩蓋,心底怨恨逐漸加深。
2004年7月起,阿尼爾就多次致信穆凱什,抱怨他將自己排除在集團(tuán)重大決策之外,甚至暗中操縱董事會(huì)。他憤憤不平地說:“現(xiàn)在我們不再像以前那樣努力鞏固父親留下的事業(yè)了,這種變化讓人悲哀。”
2004年11月22日,穆凱什給公司全體員工的一封電子郵件中稱,他將全權(quán)負(fù)責(zé)信實(shí)工業(yè)集團(tuán)事務(wù),
“集團(tuán)所有權(quán)問題”已得到了妥善解決。被徹底激怒的阿尼爾向董事會(huì)遞交長(zhǎng)達(dá)500頁(yè)的報(bào)告,歷數(shù)了穆凱什的種種管理不當(dāng),指責(zé)穆凱什作假賬,甚至將其告上法庭。
在母親科姬娜·安巴尼的調(diào)解下,雙方終于決定讓這個(gè)鬧劇收?qǐng)?。最終,穆凱什將掌管集團(tuán)旗下主營(yíng)石油化工業(yè)務(wù)的信實(shí)工業(yè)有限公司和印度石化公司,兩家公司的年度營(yíng)收達(dá)到190億美元。而阿尼爾則接手信實(shí)能源、信實(shí)通訊以及信實(shí)資產(chǎn)三家子公司。