Asia's Richest Families

According to a ranking recently published by Bloomberg, the Ambanis remain the wealthiest among Asia’s families, having recovered from previous losses. The family owes its riches to the Reliance Industries conglomerate headquartered in Mumbai. The rest of the ranking’s top 10 is a mix of different industries, countries and also one global household name.

The Ambanis’ wealth remains more than double that of the next clan in the ranking of Asia's richest families, the Hartonos of Indonesia's Djarum brand. It also earns them rank 8 among the world’s wealthiest legacy families. All in all, the 2024 ranking now features four Indian families in the top 10, up from just two last year. New additions are the Jindal family, who made their wealth in different industrial sectors, and Birla family, who run conglomerate Aditya Birla Group. Two families each hailing from Hong Kong and Thailand are also among the top 10, with Thai Red Bull inventors, the Yoovidhyas, in rank 6.

Chinese emigrants are quite common among the list of Asia’s most wealthy families. Chearavanont patriarch Chia Ek Chor came to Thailand from Southern China in 1921 and started out importing and exporting seeds, vegetables and animal products between Bangkok, China and Hong Kong. Outside of the top 10, the Pao/Woo family (rank 11) and the inventors of Oyster Sauce, the Lee family (rank 17), made their fortunes in Hong Kong after emigrating from Mainland China. The story is similar with the Sy family (rank 14) who are conglomerate owners in the Philippines.