3 Indians among 10 top women inheritors on Forbes list

Some work hard to become rich. Others become rich by luck. Some become rich with the combination of both. While others are born rich – in families that own billions. Forbes has identified top 10 women likely to inherit the most from their billionaire fathers. And three of them, toping the list are from India. Vanisha Mittal, Isha Ambani and Pia Singh, daughters of Lakshmi Mittal, Mukesh Ambani and K P Singh respectively have followed in their father’s footsteps and grabbed the top three rankings on a Forbes list of billionaire heiresses.

Indian-origin steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittals daughter Vanisha Mittal Bhatia has emerged as the richest among those standing to inherit a fortune, Forbes reported.
Isha Ambani, the only daughter of Mukesh Ambani, an Indian billionaire ranked fifth in the world, follows Vanisha. Isha Ambani is just a teenager but already has her own stake in the Reliance Industries, worth about 80 million dollars. Ranked third in the heiresses is Indian realty baron K.P. Singh’s daughter Pia Singh. She already holds a stake worth USD 400 million in the country’s biggest real estate firm. Vanisha Mittal Bhatia, daughter of Lakshmi Mittal, the fourth-richest person in the world as of Forbes March last, perhaps best known for the $60 million wedding her father threw for her in 2004, now serves as a director on the board of dad’s $103 billion (market cap) steel company, ArcelorMittal. "Her corporate involvement and small family - she has only one brother - puts her in good stead to inherit a sizable chunk of her father’s fortune," the magazine says.

While introducing Vanisha, Forbes had this to say: "The second child and only daughter of the world’s fourthrichest man, steel baron Lakshmi Mittal, Vanisha serves on the board of directors of her father’s $103 billion (market cap) company, ArcelorMittal. She holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the European Business School and a master’s in South Asian studies from London’s prestigious School of Oriental and African Studies. She made her name in the heiress hall of fame with her 2004 wedding to banker Amit Bhatia, a week-long affair in Paris attended by 1,000 guests; it reportedly cost $60 million" Isha Ambani, daughter of Mukesh Ambani, $43 billion, "is the only daughter of the world’s fifth-richest man. Isha has been photographed with her father at cricket matches (he owns cricket team Mumbai Indians). At 16, she already holds a stake worth about $80 million in Reliance Industries, the petrochemicals giant her father runs. A former student body council president, she also plays on her school’s championship soccer team and is a trained pianist," Forbes wrote.

Pia Singh, is "Daughter of K.P. Singh, $30 billion, is a graduate of University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. Singh pursued a six-week filmmaking course at New York University and later worked in the risk-underwriting department at GE Capital. She now works for her father’s DLF group, where she heads its entertainment venture, DT Cinemas and is managing director of its luxury retail business. Already she has a stake worth $400 million," Forbes wrote.

Also making the cut are several heiresses who already play an active role in the family empire, a fact that appears to bode well for their chances of inheriting the business as well as a piece of the estate.

Leading that group is Delphine Arnault-Gancia, daughter of Bernard Arnault, the world’s 13th-richest man, who heads the $50 billion luxury goods behemoth LVMH.

Another one poised to inherit and lead is Marta Ortega Perez, daughter of Spanish retailer Amancio Ortega. She could choose to live a life of idle pleasures off her presumed cut of his $20.2 billion fortune but instead she’s being groomed to succeed him at the helm of fashion conglomerate Inditex.

But still, for all the attention lavished on the daughters and grand daughters of the world’s wealthiest, many will never actually inherit a billion-dollar fortune, Forbes says.

This is so as fewer wealthy parents are leaving their fortunes to their offspring these days, in part due to estate taxes or charitable interests but also for fear of indulging the "Paris Hilton syndrome" or a "trustafarian lifestyle."

The report also says, some billionaires have even opted to cut the kids out almost entirely. America’s two richest men, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett, have both announced intentions to leave the bulk of their fortunes to charity. Buffett has even urged others to follow suit. In choosing who among heiresses actually stands to inherit a fortune and make it into the ranks of the world’s richest, Forbes looked at the daughters of the 150 richest people, all of whom had a net worth of $6.4 billion or more in March.

Then it focused on those daughters who come from smaller families, with few or no siblings. Finally, anyone whose mothers or fathers had already announced Carnegie-esqe philanthropic pledges were eliminated. 

The result is a hypothetical list subject to change, Forbes says. For "parents could lose their fortune. Plus, as Leona Helmsley’s dismayed relatives discovered last year, Mom or Grandma might just leave it to the dogs."  

BY R PADMANABHAN