NEW DELHI: The richest man in India started his son’s extravagant pre-wedding celebrations by feeding over 50,000 people in his hometown. Some of the most powerful people in the world are anticipated to attend the festivities in the following days.
Global IT CEOs, titans of industry, Bollywood stars, music icons, and politicians are anticipated to arrive on Friday for the main celebrations, which span three days and are hosted by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, who is constructing a vast Hindu temple complex for the occasion.
According to Forbes’ real-time billionaires list, Ambani, 66, the chairman of the massive oil-to-telecoms company Reliance Industries, is the richest person in Asia with a net worth of over $114 billion.
In the western Indian state of Gujarat, Ambani and his wife Nita, son Anant, and his fiancée Radhika Merchant organized a three-day feast for the locals in the Reliance Township in his birthplace of Jamnagar.
Later this year, Anant, 28, who also sits on the boards of numerous Reliance-owned companies, is anticipated to wed Merchant, 29, an industrialist’s daughter.
In 2018, Ambani hosted the most lavish wedding in India for his daughter, which reportedly clocked in at $100 million and featured a performance by US music sensation Beyonce. According to a list given by Reliance, the attendees this time around are likely to include Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and a number of present and previous government leaders. R&B singer Rihanna, illusionist David Blaine, and Bollywood’s Diljit Dosanjh will play for them.
Disney CEO Robert Iger is also invited, as a result of the agreement reached on Wednesday between Reliance Industries and Walt Disney to combine their Indian media companies. In the most populated country and fifth-largest economy in the world, the combination will create a $8.5 billion entertainment juggernaut.
The former US president’s daughter Ivanka Trump, the former prime minister of Sweden Carl Bildt, the former prime minister of Canada Stephen Harper, and the monarch of Bhutan are among the other guests invited.
A who’s-who of India’s ultra-wealthy elite is also invited, including Bollywood stars Amitabh Bachchan and Shahrukh Khan, cricket greats Sachin Tendulkar and M. S. Dhoni, and business mogul Gautam Adani.
In an effort to maintain “India’s rich cultural and spiritual identity at the heart of the wedding festivities,” the Ambanis are constructing a complex of Hindu temples in Jamnagar, according to a social media post from the Reliance Foundation.
The Hindustan Times newspaper stated that there will be a “jungle fever” day that includes a visit to an animal rescue center run by Ambani, among other themes, events, and dress rules for the main celebrations, which take place from March 1-3.
