Is It Davos? No, It’s an Indian Billionaire’s Family Wedding

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By Rajesh Roy and Tripti Lahiri

(The Wall Street Journal) — What do Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Ivanka Trump, Micro-soft co-founder Bill Gates and Rihanna have in common? They all were in India this week-end to attend the impossibly lavish pre-wedding festivities of Anant Ambani, the youngest son of Asia’s richest billionaire, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani.

At every rung of the class ladder, Indian families splurge on weddings that span multiple days. But when India’s richest families host a wedding, and business dynasties unite, the wedding budget can run to millions of dollars and it is often hard to tell where socializing ends and networking begins. Mukesh Ambani’s net worth is estimated at more than $100 billion.

Anant Ambani, 28 years old, is marrying Radhika Merchant, 29, who is also the child of a business tycoon. Her father, Viren Merchant, heads Encore Healthcare, a pharmaceutical and consumer-healthcare company.