The New World’s 5 Richest Families

By Vipin Agnihotri

Taking out figures from the Forbes list that appeared in August this year, The India Street has come up with the world’s 5 richest families. Point to be noted here is that since then, Mukesh and Anil Ambani’s wealth has grown exponentially, thanks to the boom in the Indian market.

Furthermore, European and US markets haven’t really moved much over this period. Because of this, there hasn’t been much change in the wealth of the other families. As a result, the Ambani’s brothers, with a combined wealth of $ 78.6 billion, find themselves richer than Carlos Slim Helu of Mexico ($59 billion), Bill Gates ($ 59 billion) and Warren Buffett ($ 52 billion).

Interestingly, we haven’t included these three on our list as all of them are individual billionaires and their wealth shows no change if their entire families are considered together.

Take a look at our list:

Richest family in the world:

Number 1: The Walton Family

The Walton Family is by far the richest family in the world (the dispersed fortunes of the Rockefellers and others being unknown to the public), their wealth inherited from Bud and Sam Walton, founders of the world’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart.

S Robson Walton: $ 16.7 billion

Jim Walton: $ 16.8 billion

Christy Walton: $ 16.7 billion

Alice Walton: $ 16.6 billion

Helen Walton: $ 16.4 billion

Total: $ 83.2 billion

Number 2: The Ambani Family

The Ambani family is the richest in India

Mukesh Ambani: $ 53.9 billion

Anil Ambani: $ 24.7 billion

Total: $ 78.6 billion

Number 3: The Ingvar Kamprad family

Talking about the Ingvar Kamprad family, it is a Swedish entrepreneurial family and founder of the home furnishing retail chain IKEA.

Ingvar Kamprad: $ 33 billion

Number 4: The Mars family

The Mars family owns the confectionery company Mars Inc., bearing its name

John Mars: $ 10.5 billion

Jacqueline Mars: $ 10.5 billion

Forrest Mars Jr: $ 10.5 billion

Total: $ 31.5 billion

Number 5: The Cox Family

The two daughters of Cox Enterprise; founder James Cox owns this media empire

Barbara Cox Anthony: $ 12.6 billion

Anne Cox Chambers: $ 12.6 billion

Total: $ 25.2 billion

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Doing business in India still not very easy

By Vipin Agnihotri

No one is going to argue with the fact that India is inching up the scale in terms of the ease of doing business. In my opinion, it seems to be moving quicker as compared to countries like China but still India has miles to go before it can catch up.

According to ‘Doing Business 2008’ report of World Bank, India improved its overall rank on ease of doing business to 120 out of 178 countries, up from 134 last year. If experts are to be believed, improvements occurred in mainly two areas, getting credit (a increase of 26 points) and cross border trade (a increase of 63 ranks) helped. On the other hand, China’s rank rose to 83 from 92.

It has come into the notice of The India Street that India has shown a decline on the other eight parameters, mainly because of other countries reforming much quicker. The most serious slippage of 18 places was in ease of starting a business.

It is worth mentioning in this regard that India requires entrepreneurs to go through 13 procedures, which by the way is double the average for developed nations and 50 per cent higher than its regional peers. In an ideal scenario, business owner will require at least 33 days to start a business in India.

Point to be noted here is that this World Bank report scope is restricted to business regulations, therefore there is an every possibility that the rankings may not tell the whole story. In my opinion, this is certainly the case with India, since the World Bank report links the pace of reforms to equity returns possible in the country.

Another issue is the roadbocks to foreign branded retail and opposition to loal retailers like Reliance Fresh. Walmart India is quietly entering Mumbai while other foreign brands are knocking on the door to India. The reception is luke warm by business people and violent by local opposition leaders.

Theoretically speaking, investors look for upside potential and they find it in economies that are reforming, irrespective of the starting point. Fact of the matter is that equity returns are the quickest in countries which are reforming the most and becoming transparent. While India may relish the returns and pace of reforms to date, things could be even better if there is improvement in tax payment systems, additional FDI reforms, and property registrations.

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WalMart in India: An Exclusive First Look

Today a reliable source has given me the first look at the first Bharti-Walmart store in India. The source informed me that the under construction building is next to the Globus mega-mall is the first Walmart. Due to the sensitive issues we and others have discussed with Reliance Fresh, it makes sense Walmart wants to remain low profile as they enter India. Below we have a satellite image of the location of the first Walmart in India:

View Larger Map

It’s located next to Globus Stores Pvt Limited, on the corner of Hill Road & Waterfield Road (also known as RK Patkar), Bandra (W), Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Below we have exclusive first look pictures of the store. Notice the store is going to look much different than Walmart’s in other countries. Due to the location, it appears Walmart is going for an urban style store with many floors. In fact, according to the Bharti Group Chairman, "… for small and mid-sized retail stores it has to be in city. Very large ones can be outside city.”

Pictures of Walmart India (click to enlarge)

First Walmart India Mumbai Click here to enlarge The Store is behind the Globus Mega-Mall in this picture

First Walmart India Mumbai 2 Click here to enlarge

First Walmart India Mumbai 3 Click here

Walmart India Mumbai Picture 4

Picture Source: Alan R.

Background on Walmart in India

The Bharti-WalMart launch is going to be low key ad without much fanfare due to the aforementioned issues with retail in India. According to Bharti-Walmart the lunch will happen in phases over time and "We will not go for a national launch. It would be in phases similar to our telecom business model," Bharti Group chairman and managing director Sunil Bharti Mittal said.

The Bharti Group has claimed they will invest $2.5b by 2015 in the retail sector while entering into a 50/50 joint venture with Walmart for the cash and carry business. "Bharti will be in the frontline and Wal-Mart in cash and carry," Mittal said, adding that this model is likely to remain till the government eases FDI norms in retail. In the cash and carry business, a company operates like a bulk dealer on behalf of several manufacturers and sells the merchandise to retail traders (quote source dnaindia.com).

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