India's richest family is planning to build the world's largest zoo, and the 280-acre project has already sparked a protest by animal activists
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India's richest family, known for its lavish lifestyle and control of India's most valuable company, has a new venture: building the world's largest zoo.
The Ambanis, the billionaire family that owns the $168 billion conglomerate Reliance Industries, plan to build a 280-acre zoo and animal rescue sanctuary called "Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom" in Jamnagar, a city in western India, The Week Magazine reports. Mukesh Ambani, Reliance's owner and majority shareholder, is worth $78.3 billion, making him the 12th-richest person in the world.
The zoo is the "pet project" of Anant Ambani, Mukesh Ambani's 25-year-old son, per The Week. Anant is a board member at Jio, Reliance's telecom arm. The zoo will be built near the company's refinery in Jamnagar, per The Week.The Greens Zoological Rescue and Rehabilitation Kingdom, which is expected to open in 2023, has already stirred up some controversy.
In January,"It seems that even wild animals kept in captivity in zoos cannot escape from the tentacles of big corporate houses as the recent 'hush-hush' transfer of two black panthers from the State Zoo in Guwahati to a zoo in Gujarat being set up by the Reliance group of the Ambanis has proved," Bobbeeta Sharma, leader of the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee, said in a statement, according to the publication.
Mukesh Ambani, 63, was Asia's richest man for about two years before being dethroned in December by Chinese bottled water and vaccine billionaire Zhong Shanshan. Still, he's Asia's second-richest man and the richest man in India by far - the next richest is Gautam Adani, who has a $45 billion fortune as compared to Ambani's $78 billion.
The Ambani family is known for its lavish lifestyle. They live in a 27-story skyscraper in Mumbai that has three helipads and cost a reported $1 billion to build. The 2018 wedding of Ambani's daughter, Isha Ambani, was attended by the likes of Hillary Clinton, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, and Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas. And perhaps most impressively, Beyoncé gave a private performance.
Ambani's other two children, 29-year-old twins Isha Ambani and Akash Ambani, also hold roles at the company.
According to Business Today, Isha holds two board and advisory roles at Jio, Reliance's lucrative telecom arm that secured a $5.7 billion investment from Facebook last year. Akash also works at Jio as part of the executive committee. He's involved in the company's product development, messaging, and chat services.
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