On Monday evening, Mukesh Ambani surged past Europe’s richest man, making him the fourth richest person in the world.
Since the start of the year, Ambani has had deals with Facebook, Google and several other top firms that have added to his value as a businessman and a billionaire. In 2020 alone, despite the coronavirus pandemic and a downward spiral in the global economy, Ambani managed to amass $22 billion (Rs 1.6 lakh crore) in the first eight months of the year.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, Ambani is now worth $80.6 billion, giving him a bigger wealth pile than France’s Bernard Arnault, whose LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE has suffered from customers curbing high-end fashion purchases faster than the company can cut costs.
And when you look at the way Ambani has amassed wealth, you can only wonder how rich he is compared to you. Well, the difference is quantitatively huge, but have you ever wondered what the exact numbers are.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey of 2017-18 that replaced the employment/unemployment survey showed that regular workers in India earned around Rs 10,000 per month. Three per cent of regular workers were considered ‘well-off’, and earned between Rs 50,000 and Rs 1 lakh per month.
Another report published by Azim Premji Working University in 2018, showed that 57 per cent of Indians earned less than Rs 10,000 per month.
Furthermore, data revealed by the Income Tax department showed that around three per cent of India’s population pay taxes.
So let us do the maths. If 57 per cent of India’s population earns less than Rs 10,000 per month, then even if we assumed that they earned Rs 9,999 per month, they would make Rs 1,19,988 per annum. If that is converted into dollars, it amounts to approximately $1,603 per annum. Mukesh Ambani’s net worth is $80 billion, which means that the billionaire’s net worth is almost 900,000 times greater than 57 per cent of India’s population.
If we look at the more affluent individual i.e. the one who makes Rs 12 lakh per year i.e. $16,037, then that individual will have to make 10,00,000 more to be close to what Ambani is earning.
