The Story of Indian Billionaire with $50 Trillion Wealth Ranked 6th in the World Who Became 'Penniless'

Anil Ambani, Chairman of Reliance Group / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Juhyung, Reporter Han Seunggon] An Indian conglomerate, once ranked as the world's 6th richest person, has drawn attention by pleading in court that he "has no assets."

According to the 'Times of India' on the 8th (local time), Anil Ambani, chairman of Reliance Group, claimed in a debt enforcement lawsuit filed by three Chinese banks including Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) on the 7th that "the value of the assets invested so far has plummeted, and I am bankrupt."

He explained, "Considering the current debt, my net worth is zero," and "I have no assets that can be liquidated to fulfill the debt."

ICBC and others stated that in 2012, Anil led the telecommunications company Reliance Communications and borrowed $925 million (about 1.1 trillion KRW) from the banks.

Additionally, these banks claimed that Anil personally guaranteed the debt at that time.

The banks argued, "Contrary to Anil's claims, he owns a private jet, helicopters, luxury cars worth $3 million (about 360 million KRW), and leads a lavish lifestyle, including gifting his wife a yacht worth $56 million (about 67 billion KRW)."

The UK court ordered Anil to repay $100 million (about 120 billion KRW) to ICBC and other Chinese banks within six weeks.

Anil is the younger brother of Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, and in 2008 recorded assets worth $42 billion (about 50 trillion KRW), ranking 6th among the world's richest.

In the past, the brothers agreed that Mukesh would operate the core sectors of Reliance Group such as oil, gas, and petrochemicals, while Anil would not enter the telecommunications sector.

However, as the Indian mobile telecommunications market rapidly grew, Mukesh established a mobile carrier called 'Reliance Jio,' securing over 150 million subscribers with affordable services.

Eventually, competition in the Indian mobile market intensified, and Anil's Reliance Communications collapsed.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.