Richest Indians in the world: 5 UAE residents shine

A new Forbes list sees five UAE-based billionaires emerge amongst the top 100 richest Indians in the world, with a combined net worth of Dh15 billion.

Dubai-based Landmark Group’s 62-year-old founder-owner Micky Jagtiani emerged at #17 (down from #13 last year), with a net worth of $5.1bn (Dh18.7bn), marginally up on last year’s $5b.

Non-resident Indian Jagtiani had last year improved his ranking among India’s richest from #17 in 2012 thanks to a weak rupee, which had seen the net worth of some of his compatriots decline in comparison to his $5bn personal purse, which had surged from $4bn in 2012.

Jagtiani’s is a typical rags-to-riches story, from being a cabbie in London to one of the richest in the world.

“Micky Jagtiani, who once drove a taxi in London, opened his first store in Bahrain in 1973 with a $6,000 inheritance he got after his parents and brother all died within a short period,” the magazine said last year.

“The Middle East retailing juggernaut – the Dubai-headquartered Landmark Group that he founded in 1973 with one store in Bahrain – generates more than $5bn revenues annually from 1,800 stores across the Middle East, Africa and India,” his Forbes profile says this year.

“[Landmark] reportedly plans to open 50 more stores by 2015. After ending a two-year alliance with France’s Groupe Auchan that operated 13 hypermarkets in India, Landmark has teamed up with Dutch retailer SPAR. The privately-held group, which wife Renuka helps him run, also has interests in hotels, health care, fitness gyms and confectionery,” it further notes.

Others from UAE on the richest Indians list are the 58-year-old M A Yusuff Ali of LuLu store fame (#40, same rank as last year), the 57-year-old Sunny Varkey, Chairman of Gems Education (#55, a decline of 10 ranks), the 72-year-old BR Shetty of NMC Healthcare (#86, down from #72 last year), and the 61-year-old Azad Moopen, who makes his debut on the 100 Riches Indians list this year at #95.

Forbes estimates Yusuff Ali’s net worth at $2.3bn (Dh8.45bn), up from $1.6bn last year. “Retail king of Abu Dhabi controls $5.7bn (revenues) Lulu Group, which has 110 hypermarkets, supermarkets and grocery outlets, mostly in the Middle East. Now expanding to Africa, Malaysia and Indonesia; already has a Lulu mall in Kochi,” says his profile. The magazine notes he has gone on a buying binge in his native Kerala, picking up stakes in a string of banks.

“He has built a lavish 60,000 sq ft waterfront home in Kochi in the traditional Kerala style,” it adds. Among the fast facts that the magazine mentions is that he recently bought an Embraer Legacy 500 jet for $25m.

Meanwhile, Varkey made his debut last year on the Forbes Richest Indians’ list with an estimated net worth of $1.4bn (Dh5.1bn), which has this year grown to $1.8bn (Dh6.6bn). Varkey is son of Indian expatriates who came to Dubai in 1959.

Although he never went beyond high school himself, in 1980, he took over management of his parents’ Our Own English School and transformed it in three decades, doing everything from laying bricks for school buildings to driving the school bus.

“The son of expat teachers created Gems Education, the largest operator of private kindergarten-to-grade-12 schools in the world with 150,000 students and 11,000 teachers, across the Middle East, Africa, Europe, China and India.

“Its first school in the United States has just opened in Chicago, though its plan to start a school in New York has been stalled by a lawsuit by a property developer who alleged that Gems breached a tenancy contract,” says Forbes.

Forbes Fast Fact: Passionate about fitness, he works out daily; dotes on his four grandkids.

Bill Clinton is honorary chairman of his Varkey Gems Foundation, which aims to have a positive impact on the lives of 100 impoverished children for each child enrolled at a Gems school.

NMC’s BR Shetty has declined in rankings among richest Indians from 72 last year to 86 this year, although his net worth is up from $880m to $1.14bn (Dh4.18bn).

“The former pharma salesman immigrated to Abu Dhabi in 1972. He made a big splash in May with the acquisition of UK foreign exchange group Travelex Holdings for an estimated $1.6bn together with Centurion, the investment arm of Saeed bin Butti Al Qubaisi, his long-time business partner.

“Shetty already owns the UAE Exchange, which handles over 10 per cent of all inward foreign remittances into India.

“His London-listed NMC Health Care is the UAE’s largest private health care firm. Other interests include generics firm Neopharma, and prized real estate such as apartment on the 100th floor of Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building,” says Forbes.

Forbes Fast Fact: He offered jobs at NMC to 46 Indian nurses who were stranded in Iraq’s Tikrit city after militants seized it.

Making his debut among the richest Indians this year is the 61-year-old Dr Azad Moopen with $1.1bn (Dh4bn) in net worth.

“Physician Dr Azad Moopen chairs Dubai-based Aster DM Healthcare, a leading healthcare provider in the Middle East and India. He was a professor at a government-owned medical college in Calicut before moving to Dubai in 1987 where he set up his medical practice.

“He went on to build a health care empire that treats more than 8 million patients annually, employs over 1,000 doctors and covers the spectrum of hospitals, medical clinics, diagnostic centres, pharmacies and a health care consultancy. Passionate about reversing the brain drain from India, he has built hospitals and a medical college in Kerala,” Forbes says of him.

Forbes Fast Fact: He sets aside one-fifth of his income for philanthropy every year.

Topping the Forbes Indian Rich List is the 57-year-old Mukesh Ambani with $23.6bn (Dh86.7bn) in net worth, followed by Dilip Sanghvi (59 years, $18bn or Dh66.1bn in net worth), and Wipro’s Azim Premji (69 years, $16.4bn or Dh60bn in net worth).

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.