Mukesh Ambani the 9th richest billionaire globally

Mukesh Ambani has been recognised as the first Indian with a wealth status that has crossed the landmark-five lakh crore ($70 billion) in November 2019 as Reliance Indus-tries (RIL) inched closer to gaining Rs.10 lakh crore market capitalisation (m-cap). RIL thus achieved yet another milestone by becoming the first Indian firm to have hit m-cap of Rs.9.5 lakh crore. This enhances Ambani’s billionaire index seeding to 9th position (Forbes ‘Real-Time’-Billionaire List) from the earlier 13th position ($50 billion) as recorded in March 2019; which is a gain of over $10 billion in just eight months. This change also makes the shareholding wealth capitalisation of Mukesh Ambani and his family to increase by around 45% over the last 15 weeks. This has obviously impacted a surge in the share price of RIL; while also increasing promoter shareholding by 2.76%. In arriving at his richest Indian billionaire status, Mukesh Ambani has overtaken Google’s Larry Page ($59.6 bn), Michael Bloomberg ($54.7 bn), Charles Koch ($42.8 bn) and David Koch ($42.8 bn).

Sanjiv Mehta wins ‘Business Leader of the Year’ award

Sanjiv Mehta, CMD, Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has bagged the ‘Business Leader of the Year’ Award in the 2019 edition of the Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence. In his speech, he dedicated his award, “To the millions of Indians who repose their trust, faith and confidence in the company.” Speaking about the legacy of HUL, he said that it grooms leaders for corporate India and that there are several large corporates in the country and many startups too whose boards are adorned by people who proudly wear a badge trained by HUL. “ Its (HUL) commitment to the country has stood the test of time-unfaltering, unflinching and unwavering...at Unilever we have three beliefs companies with purpose lasts, brands with purpose grow and people with purpose thrive; HUL embodies all these beliefs”, said Gupta.

Ajay Piramal to sell off stake in Shriram Capital

Ajay Piramal, Chairman of the Piramal conglomerate is slated to resign as Chairman of the Chennai based Shriram Capital Ltd., the Indian Non-Bank Finance Company (NBFC), and he gradually initiates selling off his stake in Shriram’s parent group company. Shriram Capital is backed by South Africa’s Sanlam Group. “I will step down in due course as I do not have much role in Shriram Capital,” said Ajay Piramal. Piramal’s pharmaceuticals to realestate group-Piramal Enterprises Ltd. sold its 10% stake in truck financier Shriram Transport Finance Co. in June this year and has initiated the process of selling its 20% in Shriram Capital. Market experts said that Piramal, “who was made Chairman of the unlisted Shriram Capital in 2014, is exiting the group after having failed to consolidate his holdings into an NBFC giant amid a cash crunch in India’s financial system. He is now planning two funds to invest in realty projects and lend to retail borrowers after announcing a $770 million capital raise.”

Nita Ambani first Indian trustee of the Met Museum, NY

Nita Ambani became the first Indian in the past 150 years to have been elected as an honorary trustee on the Board of The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. She said that it has been deeply rewarding to support the museum’s desire to expand and enhance its programme in exhibiting the arts of India. “I have been moved and impressed by The Met’s keen interest, which enables our commitment to seeing Indian art and culture represented on the global platform. This great distinction inspires me to redouble my efforts on behalf of India’s heritage, from the ancient to the contemporary,” she said. She has been supporting exhibitions at the New York City institution which according to Daniel Brodsky, the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Chairman, “Ambani’s backing has had an enormous impact on the museum’s ability to study and display art from every corner of the world.” A philanthropist in her own rights, she has been promoting Indian art and culture globally, while also promoting sports and development programmes within the country as the Founder and Chairperson of the Reliance Foundation.

Kumar Mangalam Birla honoured by Dubai’s ABLF

Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group was recently honoured with the Asia Business Leadership Forum’s (ABLF) - Global Asian Award, for a “powerful individual whose business footprint and commitment to excellence have engaged international interest and attention.” This award coincides at a time when the Aditya Birla Group is celebrating its 50 years of its global presence. “I thank ABLF for recognising the Aditya Birla Group’s contribution to the global economy. This honour is particularly special as it comes close on the heels of our Group celebrating 50 years of our global presence. Through the course of this journey, we have seen an irreversible shift in the World’s Economic Centre of gravity to Asia. I am confident that the next decade will see the emergence of India as an economic superpower, and we hope to play our part in making that happen,” he added. The Asia Business Leadership Forum (ABLF) is backed by the UAE Government and currently runs in three forms-talks, awards and publications. Late Dhirubhai Ambani, Lakshmi Mittal, H.E Mohamed Ali Alabbar, Chairman-Emaar and H.E Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of Emirates are some other business celebrities who have won the ABLF distinction in the past.

Sharad Arvind Bobde appointed as the 47th CJI

Justice Sharad Arvind Bobde was sworn in as the 47th Chief Justice of India (CJI) for an 18-month tenure succeeding Ranjan Gogoi. Hailing from a family of lawyers, this Nagpur-born lawyer has led some of the most landmark cases in the Indian justice system. He was part of the bench that made Aadhaar mandatory while also mediating the historical Ayodhya case dispute as part of the November 9, 2019, five-judge constitution bench. His other successes include the observation in 2016 that seeking votes on religious grounds is a greater evil than the exploitation of caste or those based on linguistic opinions. A three-judge bench including Bobde along with Justices T.S. Thakur, A.K. Sikri in 2016 laid the groundwork for fireworks-related air pollution that prohibited the sale of firecrackers in the National Capital Region around the Diwali festivities; setting a precedent for firecracker-ban orders for later cases resulting in the awareness for a ‘green’ Diwali throughout the country. The year 2017 saw Bobde as part of a two-judge bench that rejected a women’s plea to terminate her 26-week ‘Down Syndrome’ inflicted foetus after the medical board guaranteed that the pregnancy was not risky for the mother to carry it to term. He also represented India at international Counter Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate in 2016, under the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1373, meant to “criminalise terrorism financing” and take measures to prevent and suppress it”.

RAtAN tAtA LAudS INdoMItABLe INdIAN SPIRIt

Ratan Tata, one of the newest entrants to the Social Media platform joined fellow country men and other corporate entities in paying his tribute to the heroes and victims of the 26/11 carnage. His “pain-filled” message hailed the indomitable Indian spirit. He wrote, “A lot has been said about the tragedy of 26/11. The memory of the carnage and loss of life, is still painful. We won’t forget the needless suffering caused across the city. But we remain proud of the spirit and the sense of unity of Mumbai. We can be hurt, but not knocked out.” In fact, Ratan Tata has reiterated the sentence “We can be hurt but we cannot be knocked down”, during the re-opening of the iconic Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, post the attacks. Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons had joined Instagram in October and within a day had attracted over 2,84000 followers. The first post of the 81-year-old business-man gained nearly 85,000 followers within no time and is seen as a social media feat for someone who has not been very active on any digital platform since March. “I don’t know about breaking the internet, but I am so excited to join all of you on Instagram (ratantata). After a long absence from public life, I look forward to exchanging stories and creating something special with such a diverse community!” he wrote.

Bill Gates reclaims status as world’s richest man

Bill Gates reclaimed his position as the richest person in the world, with a net worth of $110 billion as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It’s the first time that Gates, co-founder of Microsoft (MSFT) has upheld the top spot in over two years; piping Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to 2nd position. In the ensuing Bezos-Gates wealth race, Gates briefly regained the lead as MSFT shares upped nearly 48% this year, boosting his stake in MSFT. October 2019 also saw MSFT beating out Amazon for a $10 billion cloud-computing contract with the Pentagon. Bezos’s brief downward slide in the wealth index in October is linked to a fall in Amazon’s year-on-year profit by 28% in the three months ending in September. Also, Bezos’ estrangement with his wife of 25 years MacKenzie, also cost him a fortune for paying out a significant sum of his stake in Amazon as part of divorce proceedings. Bezos, with a net worth of $108.7 billion sits comfortably in position two. As for Gates, he’s said to have paid more than $10 billion in taxes already and it would be fine with him to up that to $20 billion. However, having to pay $100 billion would prompt him to start “to do a little math about what I have leftover,” in response to a wealth tax proposal by some Democratic political candidates, that included Sen. Elizabeth Warren too.

Tharoor joins UK-based strategic advisory firm

Shashi Tharoor, author and senior MP (Congress) has joined UK based-CTD Advisors founded by Shoaib Bajwa, former British banker and business strategist. Tharoor’s job specs revolve around providing strategic advice and insights into enabling CTD’s clients in taking informed decisions in the current unfamiliar global political and regulatory environments while managing their reputational risks. “These are exciting times when corporations have started to address geo-strategic issues. Having Shashi as one of our trusted advisors will give our clients the additional insight in managing crises, communication strategy and geo-economic challenges,” said Bajwa. Their aim is also to create opportunities arising out of global conflicts while providing viable strategic advice and geopolitical due diligence. Tharoor will be part of an elite team of advisors including former UK National Security Advisor, Sir Mark Lyall Grant, former Head of British Defence Intelligence, Chris Nickols and the Friends of Israel Group’s Honorary President, Lord Stuart Polak. The advisory firm has expertise in providing intelligence based strategic advice to global corporations, sovereign entities and HNW (high net worth) families in challenging or unpredictable, opaque global markets scenarios. Tharoor joins the team amidst the Brexit uncertainty, access to public information/fake news, India and China’s developing role in the new world order, and the emergence of new global relationships amidst a new world disorder that continues to set alarms across emerging geopolitical reservations for governments, corporates and investors.

BIOCON CHIEF RECEIVES ICMR’S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Chairperson and Managing Director, Biocon Ltd., added yet another honour with the Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR) –‘Lifetime Achievement’ award for her outstanding contributions to the healthcare sector. ICMR has recognised Kiran Shaw’s thought leadership in building a globally renowned biopharmaceuticals company that is committed to innovating and providing high quality and affordable medicines to patients globally. She is also noted for her philanthropic efforts and in her capacity has been providing accessible healthcare in India and abroad through cost-effective life-saving therapies. “My mission of using innovation to develop biopharmaceuticals that can benefit a billion patients and enable affordable access to medicines is quite aligned with ICMR’s purpose to create a strong ecosystem for medical research and innovation in India,” she said. “I strongly believe it’s critical for us to invest in R & D to find innovative solutions to improve access and affordability of healthcare in the country to serve,” she added. She received the award from Bill Gates in his capacity as co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at an event that marked the 108th Foundation Day of ICMR. The apex body, ICMR, exemplifies its work through formulation, co-ordination and promotion of bio-medical research.

Indra Nooyi, inducted into Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery

Indra Nooyi, former CEO-Pepsico CEO has become the first-ever Indian American to have been inducted into the prestigious Smith-sonian’s National Portrait Gallery. On accepting the honour, Nooyi said, “I think going forward, people like us paved the path for women to be viewed as equal, powerful and contributing as anybody else. And, so women should not feel like second class citizens. They should know they too have arrived on the scene. And their contributions will also be noticed irrespective of your background.” She shares the honour with other business stalwarts Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Frances Arnold, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Earth, Wind and Fire. The portrait of Nooyi, 64, has been drawn by artist Jon Friedman. “The way John Friedman painted is... he wanted to bring the inner me out in the portrait. So, he took hundreds of pictures, then he picked one and drew from that,” she said. The induction ceremony was graced by luminaries former First Lady Michelle Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Nooyi said, “It doesn’t matter what your background, colour, creed, ethnicity is. As long as you’ve made a positive impact to the country, we are going to celebrate you actually memorialise which I thought was even more spectacular.”