2004 has been a great year for billionaires, with the year’s new entrants making up more than a quarter of the 178-member strong Billionaire Club. Those already in the rich list saw their wealth grow exponentially, and the combined net worth of the richest of the rich rose by almost 43 per cent to a fantastic Rs 1,85,800 crore by August end. Most of this phenomenal increase in wealth is the result of the stock market rally of the past two years, which has seen the value of promoters’ shareholding rise steeply. 

Small wonder, then, that the rise in wealth has been highest in those businesses which have been performing well in the markets. Azim Premji’s regaining the title of richest Indian, for example, is due in no small measure to the fact that tech stocks are back in favour on the bourses. The market rally has also turned many promoters into billionaires by allowing them to unlock their wealth through Initial Public Offerings. Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, India’s richest woman and Biocon’s promoter, is the best example of this trend.

But perhaps the most encouraging feature of The Billionaire Club is that so many of its members are self-made first-generation entrepreneurs. Moreover, it’s not only promoters who made a lot of money in 2004 – the salary and perks of managers who earned more than Rs 1 crore per annum rose faster than the salaries of promoters. As a matter of fact, the number of non-promoter top executives earning more than Rs 1 crore a year more than tripled in 2004. 

The Billionaire Club celebrates the hard work and drive of these top executives and promoters, a drive that has created enormous wealth, not only for themselves, but for millions of other shareholders across the country. As the economist Joseph Schumpeter pointed out long ago, it is entrepreneurs like these who “act with confidence beyond the range of familiar beacons,” and serve as the real drivers of the economy.

But all this is serious stuff. Surely our billionaires also know how to use their wealth to enjoy the good things of life? Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be true for the majority of them, who are so intent on adding to their billions that they forget how to spend them. This year’s Billionaire Club introduces you to the men behind the billions – their hobbies, their food habits, their social lives and even their spiritual inclinations.

We also try to probe the connections between wealth and power. Does wealth necessary lead to power? How is power measured? By the ability to influence government policy? By access to the corridors of power? We present our list of India’s most powerful billionaires and seek answers to some of these questions. We look too at the grooming of the children of billionaires. It’s no surprise that most of them have been educated or are being educated in the US. 

A few of them start at the bottom to learn the ropes of the business, even if their climb to the top is fairly rapid after that. We also note that several billionaires prefer to keep their wealth away from the public gaze. These include a sprinkling of astute businessmen who keep most of their businesses private, celebrity actors and cricket players, painters and media tycoons. The one thing they share, in common with the more conventional promoters and top executives, is a passion for excellence in their chosen field of endeavour.