The wedding of Anant Ambani—the youngest son of Asia's richest man—and his longtime girlfriend, Radhika Merchant, has attracted a host of well-heeled guests, including celebrities, politicians, and prominent businesspeople. In what has been dubbed the society wedding of the year, Ambani and Merchant, both of whom are 29, will be celebrating their union at Mumbai's Jio World Convention Centre, which is owned by the groom's family, from Friday. The event will also see guests converging on the Ambani family home for lavish soirées.
In the leadup to the nuptials, there has been much coverage in the local press of every detail, given the family's prominence. The groom's father, , ranks as the 11th richest man in the world with an estimated net worth of around $120 billion, according to the . Much of the senior Ambani's fortune was made at the helm of Reliance Industries, India's largest public company and a multinational conglomerate whose businesses include petrochemicals, energy, natural gas, entertainment, textiles, retail, telecommunications, and mass media.
Mukesh Ambani is also the owner of the cricket team Mumbai Indians. He and his family famously live in a $1.2 billion 27-story home called Antillia, which is the world's most valuable private residence and features three helipads, a 160-car garage, private movie theater, swimming pool, and a snow room that spits out snowflakes from the walls to keep the Ambanis cool.
Merchant also hails from a prominent business fami.