Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in Asia, is set to hold a grand four-day celebration for the wedding of his youngest son Anant in Mumbai starting Friday, which will be attended by world leaders, CEOs, celebrities and Bollywood megastars.
Billionaire and Chairman of Reliance Industries Mukesh Ambani with his wife Nita Ambani and son Anant Ambani pose for photos as they arrive at Anant’s wedding ceremony.
AFP via Getty Images
Key Takeaways
- Anant Ambani is marrying Radhika Merchant, the daughter of Pharma tycoon and Encore Healthcare founder Viren Merchant.
- The wedding ceremony comes after months of celebrations that included a three-day pre-wedding bash in the Western Indian coastal town of Jamnagar in March—which featured a private concert by Rihanna—and another ceremony in Mumbai last week headlined by a Justin Bieber live performance.
- Kim and Khloe Kardashian, actor and WWE star John Cena, former boxer Mike Tyson, Nigerian rapper Rema and Hollywood star Jean-Claude Van Damme are among the global celebrities on the invite list.
- The guest list also includes former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, two former British prime ministers Boris Johnson and Tony Blair, former Canadian prime minister Stephen Harper, former Italian prime minister Matteo Renzi and World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
- Indian leaders on the guest list include the country’s former president Ram Nath Kovind, defense minister Rajnath Singh and several state chief ministers.
- Business leaders expected to attend the event include Aramco CEO Amin Nasser, Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen, BP CEO Murray Auchincloss, Samsung Electronics Chairman Jay Y. Lee, Lockheed Martin CEO James Taiclet.
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What To Watch For
Although he is not officially on the guest list, there is some speculation that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi may attend the wedding as he is expected to be in Mumbai on Saturday to inaugurate an infrastructure project. Reuters reported that the posters welcoming Modi to Mumbai have been put up outside the wedding venue—although local officials say it is the work of “excited party workers.”
According to the Indian business daily Mint, the prime minister—who is considered close to Ambani—would likely make a brief appearance to bless the couple before leaving.
Earlier this week, Bloomberg reported that former Secretary of State Hilary Clinton—who attended the wedding of Ambani’s daughter Isha in 2018—is also expected to attend.
Key Background
Anant is the youngest of Ambani’s three children and the weekend’s ceremony is not the first lavish event organized by the billionaire family.
March’s pre-wedding bash was attended by Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Meta CEO and co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, among several other big names. In 2018, the billionaire’s older daughter Isha Ambani married Anand Piramal, the son of billionaire and pharma tycoon Ajay Piramal.
Their wedding celebrations featured a private concert by Beyoncé while Coldplay performed live when Isha’s twin Akash married Shloka Mehta a year later.
Actress Priyanka Chopra and her husband singer Nick Jonas arrive in Mumbai to attend the wedding.
Hindustan Times via Getty Images
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