Asia’s richest man takes stars, wedding party to exotic zoo
>> NEW DELHI: Top global celebrities donned “jungle fever” outfits in India for a trip to the zoo yesterday as part of a party thrown by Asia’s richest man.
Pop icon Rihanna, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka are among the rich and famous guests who jetted in for a three-day gala celebration hosted by billionaire tycoon Mukesh Ambani.
This weekend’s party is a pre-wedding ceremony for younger son Anant and fiancee Radhika Merchant, the daughter of wealthy pharmaceutical moguls.
The three-day gala — which saw Umbrella singer Rihanna perform on Friday — continued yesterday with a trip to an “animal rescue centre” housing exotic animals.
The facility is a pet project of Anant’s built in his family’s hometown Jamnagar in western Gujarat state, where the weekend party is taking place.
Indian media reports said the family would yesterday host a “Walk on the Wildside”, an event held outdoors in the Ambani’s animal rescue centre.
“Jungle fever” is the suggested dress code, and guests have been advised to wear comfortable shoes and clothing, reports said.
In the evening, reports added, guests will ditch their safari-themed outfits for more elegant wear for an evening party celebrating Indian culture.
Mukesh Ambani, 66, is chairman of Reliance Industries — India’s biggest company by market capitalisation — and the world’s 10th-richest person, according to the Forbes billionaires list, worth more than US$116 billion.
He inherited a thriving industrial enterprise spanning oil, gas and petrochemicals from his father and grew it into a commercial behemoth with lucrative interests in retail, telecommunications and an Indian Premier League cricket team.
Reliance’s partnerships with storied fashion brands such as Burberry have helped the conglomerate cater to the growing appetite for luxury goods among India’s middle class.
Ambani’s family home — a 27-floor skyscraper dubbed Antilia that cost more than $1 billion to build and has 600 servants — is one of Mumbai’s most prominent landmarks.
Ambani held the most expensive wedding in India to date for his daughter in 2018, which reportedly cost $100 million and saw US pop megastar Beyonce perform.