- Saudi crown prince says no Israel ties without Palestinian state
- Canada to further cut international student, foreign worker permits
- YouTube launches new TV-focused tools for creators
- White Sox heading for worst season in MLB history
- Hong Kong democracy tycoon's son warns time running out
- New migraine drugs no better than cheap painkillers: big study
- Sean 'Diddy' Combs again denied bail in sex trafficking case
- Brewers clinch division title as MLB playoff race heats up
- US stocks dip despite larger Fed interest rate cut
- Man City held by Inter as PSG pinch win in Champions League
- All Blacks recall Beauden Barrett for Australia Test
- Spurs late show saves Postecoglou blushes at Coventry
- PSG snatch late goal to beat Champions League debutants Girona
- Gittens' late double gives Dortmund Champions League win at Brugge
- Man City blunted by Inter in Champions League stalemate
- Hidden talent: French Olympic star Marchand opts for disguise
- MrBeast named in California lawsuit over 'Beast Games' show
- Gauff splits with Gilbert as coach after 14-month run
- Hundreds of thousands at risk in Sudan's El-Fasher: UN
- Harvey Weinstein pleads not guilty to new sex crime charge
- Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
- X update allows app to bypass Brazil ban: internet providers
- Arsenal's Odegaard faces lengthy injury absence
- India coal expansion risks massive methane growth: report
- China the top challenge in US history, top diplomat says
- Ronaldo's Al Nassr appoint former AC Milan boss Pioli
- Ainslie 'relieved' as British book place in Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Women's NBA will add 15th team in Portland in 2026
- Brazil fires need harsher punishment: environmental police boss
- Boeing to start large temporary furloughs amid Seattle strike
- Fears of all-out war as new Lebanon device blasts kill nine, wound 300
- 'Emergency' declared over falling UK butterfly numbers
- Stock markets, dollar slip before US rate decision
- Russian advance in Kursk 'stopped': Ukraine official to AFP
- UN members demand end to 'unlawful' Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
- Snapchat pushes 'safer' platform image, but not everyone agrees
- So where does the oceans' plastic waste come from?
- Allied war heroes buried in Netherlands... 80 years on
- Marsh coy over Australia's choice to open alongside Head
- New London sculpture pays tribute to trans community
- Lebanon doctors tell of horror after pager blasts
- McIlroy eyes Wentworth glory after Irish Open collapse
- Italy seen overtaking France as world's largest wine producer
- Hezbollah vows vengeance on Israel for pager blasts
- Brook expects unified England after McCullum's white-ball takeover
- Kamindu Mendis century rescues Sri Lanka against New Zealand
- Two dead in botched armed raid on Russian retailer's office
- UK train drivers back govt pay deal to end strikes
- Man who copied French rapist says he deserves to punished
- Eriksen will wait to settle Man Utd future
CMSC | 0.02% | 25.055 | $ | |
SCS | 0.71% | 14.11 | $ | |
RIO | -0.02% | 62.91 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.12% | 24.98 | $ | |
NGG | -0.46% | 70.05 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
GSK | -0.31% | 42.43 | $ | |
BCE | 3.09% | 35.61 | $ | |
AZN | 0.06% | 78.58 | $ | |
JRI | 0.45% | 13.44 | $ | |
BTI | -0.34% | 37.88 | $ | |
BCC | 1.33% | 137.06 | $ | |
BP | -0.37% | 32.43 | $ | |
RYCEF | 1.37% | 6.55 | $ | |
VOD | 0.49% | 10.23 | $ | |
RELX | -0.82% | 47.37 | $ |
Billionaire bash: India's lavish Ambani nuptials
Billionaire Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani celebrates the lavish finale of his son's wedding this week, highlighting his staggering wealth, as well as India's rapid economic growth and stark financial inequalities.
Ambani's younger son Anant and fiancee Radhika Merchant, both 29, are set to marry in a three-day Hindu ceremony in India's financial capital Mumbai starting Friday.
Asia's richest man is no stranger to throwing a costly wedding.
He held the most expensive wedding in India to date for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost up to $100 million and saw US singer Beyonce perform.
This week's opulent celebrations are set to raise the bar, with celebrities, politicians and business elite jetting into the monsoon-hit megacity of Mumbai.
Pre-wedding parties for his son included multi-day galas, a European cruise for 1,200 guests, a specially built Hindu temple and entertainment provided by pop stars ranging from Rihanna to Justin Bieber.
- Power -
Ambani, 67, the chairman of Reliance Industries, has a fortune of more than $123 billion, and is the 11th wealthiest person in the world, according to the Forbes billionaires list.
He is a key ally of India's right-wing Hindu nationalist leader, Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Ambani inherited a thriving industrial enterprise spanning oil, gas and petrochemicals.
He grew it into a commercial behemoth with lucrative interests in retail, telecommunications and an Indian Premier League cricket team.
Ambani's family home Antilia is one of Mumbai's most prominent landmarks. The 27-floor building reportedly cost more than $1 billion to erect and has a permanent staff of 600 servants.
Merchant is the daughter of pharmaceutical moguls.
- Cruise and zoo -
Wedding celebrations began in March with a three-day gala for 1,500-plus guests in Gujarat state.
Rihanna performed her first concert since last year's Super Bowl for wedding guests including Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and ex-US president Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka.
David Blaine did magic tricks.
Festivities also involved a trip to the Ambani's "animal rescue centre" housing exotic animals, and a specially built Hindu temple complex.
A second leg in June was a four-day Mediterranean cruise with 1,200 guests, Merchant told Vogue.
Singer Katy Perry performed at a masquerade ball at a French chateau in Cannes, while the Backstreet Boys and US rapper Pitbull also provided entertainment.
DJ David Guetta played at a toga party at sea.
The cruise ended in Italy's Portofino, where tenor Andrea Bocelli serenaded the party in the town square.
- Gowns -
The wedding invitation was an intricate chest incorporating a mini silver temple.
Merchant's multiple dresses have been as elaborate.
They have included custom designs from Versace, Dolce & Gabbana, and a vintage Yves Saint Laurent for Dior, she told Vogue.
Another was a sweeping chiffon dress printed with a love letter from her fiancee, the magazine reported.
"I want to be able to show it to my kids and grandkids, and say that 'this is what our love was'", Merchant said.
- Poverty -
India is the fastest-growing major economy, and the world's fifth largest.
But despite massive advances, the world's most populous country has a jobs crisis to match.
National per capita income is just $1,174, according to government data.
India was ranked 111 of 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index report last year, a peer-reviewed measure calculated by European aid agencies.
One percent of India's 1.4 billion people earn more than a fifth of its wealth, according to the World Inequality Lab, an income share "among the very highest" in the world -- greater than South Africa, Brazil or the United States.
Perhaps to preempt criticism, Ambani provided a feast for 50,000 people in his hometown of Jamnagar in Gujarat during the first round of parties.
Ambani also organised a mass wedding for 52 "underprivileged" couples near Mumbai, promising to support "hundreds more such weddings" across India.
P.Serra--PC