During the weekend, one of the most covered weddings of the last year took place. Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia, betrothed his youngest son, in a three-day event whose cost may reach, according to some estimates, to 250 million dollars. The guest list included President Narendra Modi, Kim Kardashian, former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Samsung Chairman Jay Wai Lee, and an appearance by Justin Bieber. The comprehensive coverage of the abundance of pre-wedding events gave a sense that the event has been going on for months.
Between 132-250 million dollars
The groom’s father, the Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani, is, as mentioned, the richest man in Asia, and is ranked 9th on Forbes’ list of the world’s richest people with a fortune estimated at 123.7 billion dollars. The son, Anant Ambani, married Radhika Merchant, the daughter of another Indian tycoon, who owns a pharmaceutical company in the country.
While the Ambani family did not disclose the costs of the wedding, estimates stand at 11-13 billion rupees, which is worth between 132-135 million dollars, but some estimates reached as high as 250 million dollars. Rihanna’s performance at the pre-wedding ceremony alone was valued at $7 million, and Justin Bieber’s performance was valued at approximately $10 million.
The wedding ceremony celebrations began on Friday and continued until midnight between Saturday and Sunday, and were held at the Jiao Conference Center, which belongs to the family. The center is in the courtyard of Ambani’s family home in Mumbai, called Antilia, considered one of the most luxurious buildings in the country, and worth an estimated $1 billion. It includes 27 floors in the city center, 160 parking spaces, 3 helipads, a sports center, a pool and movie theaters.
Indian jewelry is coming back to the fore
The jewelry worn by the women of the family took the spotlight at the wedding. The New York Times reported that in 1971 the government nationalized properties of principalities in the country, and many jewels were hidden or sent to banks in Switzerland. In the years since nationalization there was no record of those jewels, and many believed they had changed hands on the gray market or disappeared forever.
At the oligarch’s wedding, among other things, jewelry was presented, including earrings, rings and necklaces on a scale not seen in the country since the days of the Indian Empire. Mukesh Ambani’s daughter wore a historic piece of jewelry that was apparently part of the jewelry collection of India’s historic ruling dynasty, a Nizm of Hyderabad. The jewelry, which consists of a necklace, earrings, and necklace, is decorated with diamonds, emeralds, and gold. Nita Ambani, the groom’s mother, wore a necklace with a 100-carat diamond as its centerpiece.
Million dollar jewelry. The wedding of the son of the richest man in Asia / Photo: Associated Press, Rafiq Maqbool
Fancy or excessive?
Opinions in India about the wedding are divided. While some people believe that the lavish wedding put India on the map, and boosted the local economy, others criticized the event and claimed that it was a PR operation for the Ambani family’s business. Thomas Isaac, an Indian politician and economist, even criticized the price of the wedding on the X social network, writing that ” While legally the money they invested in the wedding belongs to them, it is a sin against the world and against the poor of the country.”
Critics called the wedding a PR stunt / Photo: ap, Reliance Industries
However, as part of the wedding, the family held several charity events at the same time as the grand events. According to local newspapers in India, the family held a “Bhandra”, a traditional Indian ceremony in which meals are donated to the city’s poor, in order to share with them the happiness of events such as weddings and births. As with the other wedding events, the Ambani family spared no expense on the “bhandra”, which lasted 40 days, during which meals were distributed to 9,000 people each day. In addition, the family organized 50 weddings for “disadvantaged” couples in Mumbai, in which the couples received jewelry, household items, and a year’s supply of food.
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