Asia’s richest man is hosting a ‘spectacular,’ ‘vulgar,’ star-studded wedding

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Asia’s richest man is throwing a wedding for his son — and it feels like everyone is either invited or following the spectacle on social media.

Anant Ambani, 29, married Radhika Merchant, 29, over the weekend in Mumbai.

But the wedding feels like it has been going on for much longer — and the guest list seems to have attracted as much attention as the couple themselves — with pop stars, politicians, tech tycoons and Bollywood stars setting social media abuzz with their attendance.

That’s because Anant’s father is Mukesh Ambani — the ninth richest man in the world and the richest man in Asia, according to Forbes’s 2024 list — and because the pre-wedding celebrations kicked off in March, with Rihanna and more recently Justin Bieber among those performing for the couple.

Here’s what to know about the much-hyped wedding — which is being seen as a celebrity and commercial event as well as a romantic one — that’s been hailed in the Indian press as “spectacular” but also been criticized as “vulgar” and sparked discussion about inequality in India.

Who are the Ambanis?

The Ambani family is a household name in India. Mukesh Ambani, 67, has a net worth of around $124 billion, according to Forbes.

He is chairman of Reliance Industries, a conglomerate founded by his father, which has grown to include textiles, petrochemicals, telecoms, retail and digital services.

Ambani’s three children — his sons Akash and Anant and daughter Isha — joined the board of Reliance in 2023. Anant is a graduate of Brown University, while Radhika Merchant is a graduate of New York University and the daughter of an Indian health-care tycoon.

The Ambani family also sparked global headlines in 2018, during the wedding of Isha Ambani, with party guests including Hillary Clinton and John Kerry and a performance by Beyoncé.

Who is attending the wedding?

The wedding has garnered global attention largely for its size, lavishness and star-studded guest list.

The pre-wedding event in Gujarat in March saw Rihanna perform to a crowd that included Bill Gates, Ivanka Trump, Mark Zuckerberg and Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan as well as colorful drone light shows and musical performances.

This was followed by a lavish European summer cruise and parties that included a performance by singer Katy Perry.

Last week, Justin Bieber performed at another pre-wedding celebration, while this weekend saw celebrities including sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian along with former British prime ministers Tony Blair and Boris Johnson as well as actor John Cena attend the wedding itself at the Ambani-owned Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai.

With such a massive guest list, it’s safe to assume that not all the attendees know the wedding couple personally. Some Indian news sites have started dedicating coverage to identifying which celebrities are not attending the wedding instead.

What impact is the wedding having in Mumbai?

Because of the sheer scale of the event, with hundreds of guests expected over multiple days, the wedding has been deemed a public event by local officials in Mumbai, with transport police putting traffic restrictions in place.

“Making the public suffer for a private event wow,” wrote one unimpressed online user, while others called for a state holiday to allow for the chaos. The traffic “affects our earnings. I don’t care much about the wedding,” Vikram, a taxi driver who only uses his first name, told the Associated Press.

Several offices in Mumbai’s Bandra Kurla Complex, a commercial hub, have instructed employees to work from home until after the wedding, according to Indian media reports.

Some have argued the wedding extravaganza has put India on the map and boosted the local economy as well as the country’s soft power. Others have criticized the event or dismissed the wedding as a PR event for the Ambani companies.

“Most vulgar and ostentatious marriage ever seen,” former Indian politician and commenter Shahid Siddiqui wrote on X.

Thomas Isaac, an Indian lawmaker and economist, tweeted that the high price tag for the wedding, when so many households were living in poverty, was “obscene. Legally it maybe their money but such ostentatious expenditure is a sin against mother earth and poor.”

The wedding is widely estimated to have cost more than $100 million.

During the festivities the Ambani family has organized charity feasts for the poor and special events for their household staff, according to local media reports.

The family has also funded a mass wedding for more than 50 underprivileged couples as part of the celebrations earlier this month, the AP reported.