New Delhi, Apr 3: Oil-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd head Mukesh Ambani continues to be the richest Indian and has now broken into the world's top 10 wealthiest persons in the latest Forbes 2024 Billionaire List.

Ambani, 66, is ranked 9th on the list with a wealth of USD 116 billion, up from USD 83.4 billion in the 2023 ranking, according to Forbes.

Gautam Adani is the second richest Indian and is ranked at No.17 on the global list. He is worth USD 84 billion, up from USD 47.2 billion in 2023 when his apples-to-airport conglomerate was rocked by a damning report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research. Adani group has denied all allegations in the report.

Adani, 61, was worth USD 90 billion in 2022 ranking.

The Forbes 2024 Billionaires List features 2,781 individuals, an increase of 141 names from last year's list. The billionaires, according to the list, are richer than ever, worth USD 14.2 trillion in aggregate, up by USD 2 trillion from 2023 and USD 1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021.

Two-thirds of the list's members are worth more than a year ago; only one-fourth are poorer.

Fashion and cosmetics giant LVMH's Bernard Arnault is at the top of the list with USD 233 billion wealth, followed by Elon Musk with USD 195 billion and Amazon's Jeff Bezos with USD 194 billion.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg comes next in the list with a net worth of USD 177 billion.

The US has a record 813 billionaires followed by China with 473 billionaires. India added 31 billionaires to the list compared to last year with the number now reaching 200.

"To calculate net worths, we used stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024," Forbes said.

Other Indians on the list include IT pioneer and HCL co-founder Shiv Nadar at No.39 with USD 36.9 billion wealth, Jindal group's Savitri Jindal and family at No.46 with USD 33.5 billion, Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi at No.69 with USD 26.7 billion, vaccine maker Cyrus Poonawalla at No 90 with USD 21.3 billion, property baron Kushal Pal Singh at No 92 with USD 20.9 billion, and commodities king Kumar Bila at No 98 with USD 19.7 billion.

Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.



Girona (Spain) (AP): Lamine Yamal missed a penalty as Barcelona lost at Girona 2-1 on Monday and passed up a chance to overtake Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.

The defeat was the second in less than a week for Barca and left it second in the table, two points behind Madrid.

A win would have taken it above its archrival but, instead, a crisis brewed for coach Hansi Flick, whose side lost to Atletico Madrid 4-0 in the Copa del Rey last week.

The second loss came even though Barcelona took the lead early in the second half.

Yamal hit the post with his spot kick on the stroke of halftime but 14 minutes into the second period Pau Cubarsí met Jules Kounde's cross from the right and placed his header perfectly into the top corner.

The goal was Barcelona's 100th in all competitions this season and made it the second club in Europe's big five domestic leagues to hit the century after Bayern Munich.

However, Girona roared back into the game just three minutes later.

Barcelona's Joan Garcia was already the busier of the two goalkeepers but he could not stop Thomas Lemar side-footing home from close range after nice work from Vladyslav Vanat on the left wing.

Both sides pushed for a decisive second and it was Girona who executed with three minutes remaining, substitute Fran Beltrán scoring with a low shot from just inside the box.

Girona's Joel Roca was sent off in the dying seconds but there were no more goals.

The victory ended a three-game winless streak for Girona and lifted it three places into 12th, equal on points with Getafe.

Only seven points separate the 11 clubs from eighth to 18th in La Liga.