The industrialist is now worth an estimated $120bn and over the years the Ambani family has not shied away from flashing its cash extravagantly, whether on the world's most expensive home-a 27-storey skyscraper mansion that towers over Mumbai - or on what was previously India's most expensive wedding, spending almost $100m on their daughter's nuptials back in 2018, where Beyoncé performed.
Yet even for the Ambani family, the months-long celebrations that have built up to the wedding of youngest son, 29-year-old Anant Ambani, to Radhika Merchant, daughter of a pharmaceutical tycoon, have surpassed even the wildest of imaginations in terms of opulence, ostentatious displays of wealth and stamina.
The event has dominated headlines, both in India and globally, for months.
Estimates put the cost of the fivemonth spectacle as upwards of $600m - an eye-watering sum.
This story is from the July 19, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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This story is from the July 19, 2024 edition of The Guardian Weekly.
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