Ambani wedding: What to know about the lavish event
FILE - In this picture taken on March 31, 2023, Anant Ambani (R), son of Indian businessman Mukesh Dhirubhai Amani, and his wife Radhika Merchant pose for pictures during the inauguration of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre (NMACC) at the Jio W (SUJIT JAISWAL/AFP via Getty Images)
The son of the richest man in Asia is getting married and the guest list is star-studded.
Anant Ambani, 29, is marrying his longtime girlfriend, Radhika Merchant, in what is being dubbed the "wedding of the year."
The celebration will have a traditional Hindu ceremony that will be followed by a grand reception that will last from July 12 to July 14 in Mumbai, India.
Who is Anant Ambani?
Ambani is the son of Mukesh Ambani, the richest man in Asia.
Anant works for the family business, overseeing the renewable and green energy expansion aspects of his father’s massive conglomerate, Reliance Industries.
Anant also runs a 3,000-acre animal rescue center in Gujarat state’s Jamnagar, the family’s hometown.
Who is Anant’s father, Mukesh Ambani?
Mukesh, 66, is the world’s ninth richest man.
He has a net worth of $116 billion, according to Forbes, and his conglomerate reports over $100 billion in annual revenue.
His business has interests ranging from petrochemicals, and oil and gas to telecoms and retail.
The Ambani family own many assets, such as a 27-story family compound in Mumbai, that is worth $1 billion.
Who is the bride?
Radhika Merchant, 29, is the daughter of a pharmaceutical tycoon, Viren Merchant.
She also helps operate the family business and is the marketing director for her father’s company, Encore Healthcare.
Merchant and Ambani were childhood friends and grew up within the same friend circle, according to an IndiaTimes report.
The pair became engaged in a traditional Roka ceremony in December 2022, according to Vanity Fair.
The wedding guest list
The multi-day wedding festivities will include celebrity guests and public figures from politics and industry.
Some of the guests include former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, former U.K. prime ministers Boris Johnson and Tony Blair, and some of the Kardashian clan.
A week before the wedding, Justin Bieber performed during the couples Sangeet ceremony, which is a pre-wedding celebration that recognizes the couple and their families’ union, according to The Knot.
Pre-wedding celebration
Yes, there was a pre-wedding celebration that was separate from the traditional Sangeet ceremony ahead of the actual wedding that took place in March.
It was also a multi-day affair with a guest list of 1,200.
Rihanna performed for the couple for a hefty fee that was estimated to be between $6 million and $9 million, Vanity Fair said.
Some attendees included Bill Gates, Hillary Clinton, Jared Kushner, Ivanka Trump, and Mark Zuckerberg.
Separately, the Ambani family took guests on a three-day cruise in May that started in Italy and ended in France.
The family also organized a mass wedding for more than 50 underprivileged couples on July 2 as part of the pre-wedding celebrations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.