Forbes Billionaires 2023: Three of India’s 16 newcomers on the list are women

With a net worth of $5.1 billion, 59-year-old Rekha Jhunjhunwala takes the place of her husband Rakesh Jhunjhunwala. She also emerged as the top Indian entrant in the 2023 Hurun Global Rich List. On August 14, 2022, ‘Big Bull’ Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, dubbed India’s Warren Buffett, passed away aged 62. In addition to her own investments, Rekha Jhunjhunwala also inherited her husband’s stock profile. She currently has investments across 29 companies, including Titan, Tata Motors and Crisil.

The daughter-in-law of late construction billionaire Pallonji Mistry, 55-year-old Rohiqa Cyrus Mistry has a net worth of $7 billion. Rohiqa Cyrus Mistry is the daughter of veteran lawyer Iqbal Chagla and the wife of Mistry’s younger son, the late Cyrus Mistry who tragically passed away in a road accident on September 4, 2022. He was only 54. Cyrus and Rohiqa were married for 30 years and have two children. She ranks at the top in the list of new female billionaires for 2023.

72-year-old Saroj Rani Gupta is a self-made billionaire, as per Forbes. Gupta, who has a net worth of $1.2 billion, co-founded APL Apollo Tubes in 1986 with her late husband SK Gupta. It was initially called Bihar Tubes. At present, her son Sanjay Gupta is the company’s managing director.

As per the Forbes list, the top three entrants on the list of new female billionaires are Rohiqa Cyrus Mistry, Annette Lerner, and Maria Angelicoussis. 93-year-old Lerner is a US-based real estate tycoon with a net worth of $6.5 billion. On the other hand, Angelicoussis is only 41 and has a net worth of $5.6 billion. She’s the CEO and owner of the Greece-based shipping company, Angelicoussis Group.

Politician and chairperson emerita of Jindal Group, Savitri Jindal, 73, is India’s richest woman and has a net worth of $17 billion. She’s followed by Rohiqa Cyrus Mistry and Rekha Jhunjhunwala, in that order. Apart from these three, Vinod Rai Gupta, 77, and Leena Tewari, 65 make the top 5.

Vinod Rai Gupta is the wife of Qimat Rai Gupta, the founder of Havells India. She has a net worth of $4 billion. Tewari, meanwhile, is a pharma heir with a net worth of $3.4 billion. In 1961, her late father Vithal Gandhi set up the pharmaceutical company USV, which specialises in diabetic and cardiovascular drugs, among others.