One of the most revered names in global finance, Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, has this to say about wealth creators and entrepreneurs: “Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more growth and more wealth. It is a virtuous cycle.”
Celebrating this very virtuous cycle, in this issue of the Super Rich, we list how much wealth India’s swell set have added to their coffers, and chronicle their secrets in attaining such fabulous riches. In fact, last year, despite the odds and headwinds of demonetisation and GST, entrepreneurs have done exceedingly well. The stockmarkets have, accordingly, been favourable, which has swelled the wealth of the entrepreneurial elite.
Our partner in this enormous information gathering and filtering exercise is Edelweiss Private Wealth Management. Without their invaluable support, it would not have been possible. As a first step in this gargantuan exercise, where we look at promoters and family wealth of all ‘listed’ companies, we sifted through hundreds of companies in which promoters held substantial stakes, and we studied all listed companies with a market cap of at least Rs 300 crore. This was done to ensure that we accounted for dollar millionaires.
One important caveat: The Super Rich issue has been restricted only to those companies and their promoters (or promoter groups) that are listed on the stock exchanges. That is in order to recognise the tremendous entrepreneurial spirit of Indian risk-takers and their wealth-creation potential.
We further fine-tuned this to include all listed enterprises of a promoter or promoter group. Edelweiss Private Wealth Management trawled through their database of over 6,000 listed companies, which, of course, excludes PSUs and MNCs. MNCs have been filtered out because their shareholding is mostly foreign owned. PSUs have been listed separately because the government does indeed have sizeable stakes in several mega companies. Hence, we reasoned that the government’s wealth deserves separate mention.
The primary list of promoters was sorted on the basis of promoter names, which, in turn, helped us filter multiple promoter holdings in various listed entities. Companies belonging to an individual or promoter group have been clubbed. Wherever possible, we have segregated the promoter list to reflect present ownership patterns and splits within various business houses. For representation purposes, however, cross-holdings within a group but in different companies have not been adjusted because of the enormity of the exercise involved, and because it could lead to specious estimates.
The Edelweiss team also analysed promoter group holdings, identified the dominant promoter and, at the same time, included promoter holdings as compiled by companies in their quarterly filings. Family stakes were combined to arrive at family wealth. The promoter and promoter-group holdings were taken as those given to stock exchanges and as in shareholding patterns released to exchanges every quarter.
The Edelweiss Private Wealth Management Team then multiplied the stakes of promoters with the stock price on 31st December 2016 and 2017 to arrive at who could be called Super Rich. This is now in your hands. The data were then sorted on the basis of promoter wealth in 2017, and the percentage change from 2016. For the purposes of keeping a pruned list, we set a cut-off of Rs 300 crore in promoter wealth. In some companies, the exact shareholding of promoters could not be ascertained because either there were multiple promoters or because individual stakes were not listed. These promoters are listed separately in ‘Other Billionaires’.
As you are all aware, such an enormous exercise could throw up inadvertent errors of omission or commission, or result in database issues. We, therefore, urge you to drop us a line if we have missed any promoter. Having said that, the results are here. Presenting India’s Top 500 promoters and promoter groups. This is our tribute to the wealth creating potential of our entrepreneurs. We congratulate each and every name featured in the Super Rich list, for every person who creates wealth here, ultimately creates jobs and contributes to the economy.
The Elite Club Of 2017 (Rankings)
Rich & Super Rich I II III IV V VI VII VIII IX X XI XII XIII
MORE RICH FAMILIES
The combined wealth of families in companies with multiple promoters too have surged
XIV XV XVI XVII XVIII XIX XX