Falling rupee: NRIs gain, but this man lost Rs364bn

India’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani, has emerged as the biggest loser in the past four months.

A plunging rupee has seen his wealth dwindle by a massive Rs364 billion in four months. In fact, Mukesh Ambani’s one-day loss amounted to $1.3 billion (Rs84.5bn) yesterday alone and the baron has lost almost a fifth of his net worth since the beginning of this year.

The Indian rupee has crashed by more than 22 per cent against the US dollar since May 2, and this decline has recently been accompanied by a massive sell-off in equities, causing Ambani’s losses to increase.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani’s net worth is down to $17.5 billion (Dh64.27 billion) as of end-of-day August 21, 2013, from $23.1 billion before the most recent slump in the Indian currency and equities market.

Mukesh’s younger sibling, Anil Ambani has less personal wealth and has therefore suffered less from the recent rout of the rupee and stocks. Ambani Jr has lost just $1.3 billion of his earlier net worth of $7.6 billion and can today boast a fortune of $6.3 billion.