NEW DELHI: India became home to the most billionaires in Asia, pushing Japan back to the No. 2 spot, according to Forbes magazine's 2007 rankings of the world's richest people.
Lakshmi N. Mittal, the London-based steel magnate who spearheaded the takeover of European steel maker Arcelor SA, was the richest Asian — and the world's fifth-wealthiest — with a net worth estimated at US$32 billion, the magazine said.
India added 14 new billionaires since last year to bring its total on the list to 36 with a combined wealth of US$191 billion, Forbes said, contrasting sharply with the 400 million Indians who still live on less than a dollar a day.
Japan's 24 billionaires had an estimated combined net worth US$64 billion, according to the list, while Hong Kong came in the third spot with 21 billionaires, and China was fourth with 20.
Globally, the number of billionaires reached a record 946, Forbes said.
The rankings underscored how China's and India's rapid economic growth are altering the balance among the world's wealthiest men and women.
The United States may still have 44 percent of the world's total billionaires, but many of them are dropping through the ranks and are being overtaken by business tycoons from Asia and other emerging economies, including Russia and Mexico, the Forbes' list showed.
Only five Americans were in the top 20 that included three Indians.
Hong Kong-based business tycoon Li Ka-shing was Asia's second-wealthiest individual and ninth overall with net worth of US$23 billion., the list showed.
The rich in China and India, the world's two most populous, cashed in on nearly every opportunity created last year by their increasingly globalized economies, from a boom in stock markets to soaring commodity and real estate prices, the magazine said.
Their wealth accumulations have also manifested in a growing demand for luxury goods — from Louis Vuitton bags to Porsche cars — in this once impoverished part of the world.
Rolls-Royce, for example, is expanding its workforce by about 25 percent to meet demand from China. Merrill Lynch said this week that it plans to open more private banking centers in India to tap its growing cash-rich population.
Ranked third and fourth richest in Asia were two Indian brothers, Mukesh Ambani and Anil Ambani, who split their father's business after months of feuding in 2005.
Mukesh Ambani, whose Reliance Industries is largely focused on petroleum and petrochemicals, was No. 14 with wealth totaling US$20.1 billion. His brother Anil, whose diversified business interests include telecommunications, power generation and finance, ranked 18 with an estimated net worth of US$18.2 billion.
In 2005, Mukesh Ambani ranked 56 and Anil stood at 104.
The Ambanis' rise was mostly driven by a surge in share prices. Stocks of Mukesh Ambani-controlled Reliance Industries have risen 84 percent in the past year, while shares of Reliance Communications and Reliance Capital — companies controlled by the younger brother — increased 49 percent and 26 percent respectively.
Notable among India's rich were five software engineers, who featured in the billionaires' list, riding on the country's success in becoming the world's outsourcing hub. Three of them came from Infosys Technologies Ltd., India's second-largest software exporter.
The list had some other surprises.
Japan's resort and railroad kingpin Yoshiaki Tsutsumi, who ranked as the world's richest in 1987, dropped off the latest list altogether.
Crashing land prices in early 1990s toppled him from the top rank, but he remained a billionaire with tremendous influence in Japan's political, sports and corporate circles until charges of insider trading and falsifying records in 2005 sparked a dramatic drop in his fortune.
The methodology of the rankings remains similar to the practice Forbes followed in previous years.
The worth of an individual's holdings in public companies was based on the Feb. 9 closing stock price, and the value of private companies was estimated by evaluating comparable public firms in the industry and by consulting with experts in the field.
