The former chairman of the Tata Group is known for bringing the storied salt-to-software conglomerate to the global stage via a string of high-profile acquisitions.
His strong business acumen led him to become one of India’s wealthiest tycoons.
The billionaire placed 421 in the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2022, based on his net worth of approximately 38 billion Indian rupees ($452 million). Another list by Fortune India-Waterfield captured his net worth as 160.4 billion Indian rupees, a figure that includes his stakes in Tata Sons, Tata Steel, Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors and Titan Company.
Ratan Tata — along with the Ambani and Adani families — have become household names given their wealth and influence.
They are, however, becoming less representative of the South Asian powerhouse’s growing super-rich population.
“The previous school of thought was that rich people were just the Tatas, Birlas or the Ambanis. But, that’s changing today — the rich are not just leaders of traditional business conglomerates,” Himanshu Kohli, the co-founder of Indian multi-family office and private wealth manager Client Associates, said.
“Lots of money has been created, whether it is in the sports arena, movies, among celebrities, investment bankers or private equity professionals,” he explained.
Professionals, who have “created substantial value” in their jobs or organizations, are now also making the cut, Kohli noted.
Another group of individuals attaining the rich status are “owners of listed companies who have sold part of their shares into the stock market rally, owners of hitherto unlisted businesses who have sold shares in their IPOs and startup founders who have sold their businesses, or shares to multinationals or bigger companies,”
The comments come as more Indians choose to set up their own company instead of working for an organization. Data from the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore revealed that the number of startups in India rose 71.5% from around 20,000 in 2021, to over 34,000 in 2023.
Many Indian startups capitalized on the private equity boom by selling shares in 2022, prior to the funding winter. Others are now riding on India’s IPO boom to cash out of their startups in the hope of making gains.
“Before the funding winter hit, a lot of startup founders created wealth by selling off their shares. That’s given them a lump sum to invest and become active investors in financial markets. Others are listing now and getting substantial gains. Both moves are giving founders lots of wealth,” Gubbi told CNBC’s Inside India.
Elsewhere, the investment manager also observed that individuals across ages and professions have benefitted from the stock market rallies in India over the last three to four years.
India’s stock market became the fourth-largest in the world at the start of the year, after overtaking Hong Kong. Since then, markets have been making steady gains with the BSE Sensex index — which represents 30 of the country’s largest and most traded firms on the Bombay Stock Exchange — up around 12% year-to-date, while the benchmark Nifty 50 index is around 13.8% higher.
