The Ambanis: All to know about the billionaire family Rihanna came out of retirement for

The world watched in sort of perplexed wonder as Rihanna jetted to Jamnagar in Gujarat, India to perform at a private pre-wedding party on Saturday. It seemed like a random move, considering her last performance was the Super Bowl. But once you learn who The Ambani family – who were hosting – actually are, it all starts to make much more sense.

Because, The Ambani’s are the richest family in India. The businessman at their helm, Mukesh Ambani, is the 11th richest person in the world – worth $111 billion. His 28-year-old son Anant Ambani is marrying Radhika Merchant (her pharmaceutical tycoon father is worth £70million) and, obviously, no expense has been spared for the celebrations.

So, in case you’re intrigued by the details of The Ambani wedding and how one family became rich enough to tell Rihanna what to do and where to be, here’s everything you need to know:

So, how much was Rihanna paid to perform at the Ambani wedding?

Mukesh Ambani reportedly paid Rihanna £5 million to play a 19 song and 90 minute set for his 1,200 guests on Saturday. His three day party is said to have cost £120 million in total but this budget will “significantly increase” when his son actually gets married in July.

Yup, you read that right, this is just the warm up. Previously, Mukesh paid Beyoncé £5million to perform in 2018 when his daughter Isha got married. So, even bigger stars could be set to perform for the Ambanis this summer.

And why exactly did Rihanna agree to perform at the Ambani wedding?

Obviously, one of the main reasons Rihanna decided to perform at the Ambani’s pre-wedding party was for the £5million. However, fans have been quick to point out she might be being more business minded than simply securing her flat fee for the performance.

Because, Mukesh Ambani made his billions with his company Reliance Industries, which just months ago took over all operations of Sephora in India. And we all know how business savvy Rihanna is when it comes to her Fenty Beauty brand.

“Fenty Beauty is not available in India yet,” wrote one fan on X/Twitter. “My girl Rihanna is not performing at their wedding for leisure, she’s going there for business. She’s always working,” they theorised. 

But just how rich is Mukesh and the rest of the Ambani family?

Mukesh Ambani is worth $111 billion, according tothe Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which makes him the 11th richest person in the world. The groom, Anant, is Mukesh’s youngest son and other billionaires like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg are flying in for his three day party.

The Ambani family live in a $1billion 27-story skyscraper in Mumbai and have been called the richest Asian family by Forbes. Their humungous net worth began when Dhirubhai Ambani (Mukesh’s dad) founded Reliance Industries to make fabrics. He died in 2022 without a will and so the company was left to Mukesh and his brother Anil.

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A post shared by Mukesh Ambani (@mukeshambani304)

After their father’s death, Mukesh and Anil entered into a bitter Succession-esque battle for Reliance Industries and, in the end, Mukesh took charge. Following a deal negotiated by their mum, the brothers split up the company with Mukesh keeping control of oil, gas, petrochemicals and business operations.

Anil was left with telecommunications, asset management, entertainment, construction and power generation businesses. Today, he’s worth a small fraction of Mankesh’s net worth and is married to a Bollywood actress called Tina Ambani.

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Featured image credit via VICTOR AUBRY/SIPA/Vijay Bate/Hindustan Times/Shutterstock