Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries, was ranked 9th in the Forbes' 37th annual World's Billionaires List 2023, with an estimated net worth of $83.4 billion. He maintained his position as the wealthiest individual in Asia.

Ambani was ranked 10th in the prestigious list last year, with an estimated net worth of $90.7 billion.

In the latest list this year, Ambani is ranked higher than the likes of Steve Ballmer of Microsoft, Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and Michael Dell of Dell Technologies.

Gautam Adani remained India's second most wealthy person, but slipped to the 24th rank globally following the recent rout in share prices of Adani Group companies. His net worth was estimated at $47.2 billion.

Shiv Nadar of HCL Technologies is the third among Indians on the list with a net worth of $25.6 billion and a global rank of 55.

While the Forbes' global count of billionaires slipped from 2,668 last year to 2,640 in 2023, the tally in India improved from 166 in 2022 to 169 this year.

Forbes noted that falling stocks, wounded unicorns and rising interest rates translated into a down year for the world's wealthiest people.

Altogether, the planet's billionaires are now worth $12.2 trillion, a drop of $500 billion from $12.7 trillion in March 2022.

According to Forbes, the US still boasts the most billionaires, with 735 list members worth a collective $4.5 trillion. China (including Hong Kong and Macau) remains second, with 562 billionaires worth $2 trillion, followed by India, with 169 billionaires worth $675 billion.

To calculate net worth, Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 10, 2023. [IANS/JS]