Monday, Apr. 04, 2011
Mukesh Ambani
Age: 53
Occupation: Chairman of Reliance Industries, power broker
Previous TIME 100 appearances: 0
The richest man in India and the apparent winner of a feud that divided the family fortune, Mukesh Ambani has made Reliance Industries a petrochemicals conglomerate, indispensable to India's economic growth. With huge interests in oil and natural gas, he is a man no Indian politician can ignore. Chattering classes routinely refer to him as India's most powerful man — when they are not gossiping about the monstrous, extravagant house (by some reports worth $1 billion) that he just finished building in Mumbai.