Mukesh Ambani to be richest man in world in 2014: Forbes

Yoshita Singh
Boston, Sep 12 (PTI) Indian business tycoon Mukesh
Ambani could be the richest man on earth in 2014 with a net
worth of USD 62 billion, pipping Mexican billionaire
businessman Carlos Slim, according to a forecast by the
prestigious Forbes magazine.
"One of the predictions is that Reliance Industries'
chief Ambani, who currently has a net worth of USD 29 billion,
pips the world's richest man Mexican businessman Carlos Slim
to top Forbes' rich list in 2014," it said.
Ambani's net worth swells to USD 62 billion while Slim
is "hit hard by Mexican political, financial chaos," according
to the prediction by Forbes.
53-year-old Ambani currently ranks fourth on Forbes'
list of the world's billionaires.
Forbes has listed a number of events that could happen
over the next 10 years in the field of politics, energy,
medicine, finance, society and technology. The publication
asked its staff and contributors to forecast some of the
"noteworthy events" till 2020.
"A vision of the coming decade sketched from real
data, projections and facts whenever possible -- though we've
injected a dose of rigorous science fiction to fill the gaps,"
Forbes said about its special 2020 report called 'What Happens
Next -- Our Look Ahead'.
Another forecast in the field of finance and economics
is of fraudster Bernard Madoff's death in his prison cell in
2011. The convicted Ponzi-scheme perpetrator is found hanging
in his cell and "prison officials will not rule out foul
play," according to the Forbes forecast.
"Futurism favours the bold. Look more than 30 years
ahead... and critics will forgive your inaccuracies. We've
attempted a thought experiment with far tougher standards:
predicting the future that's just around the corner," Forbes
said.
In 2012, social networking site Facebook debuts on
NASDAQ. Its IPOs value USD 40 billion and founder Mark
Zuckerberg becomes the first 20-something who is worth USD 10
billion-plus.
Then by 2020, Wal-mart employs five million people
worldwide and its sales pass the one trillion dollar mark.
The company "cites successful India and Brazil expansions" for
the landmark.
In 2017, Harvard endowment doubles in seven years to
USD 50 billion. It offers free tuition to lure top students
from China.
The US job scene finally improves in 2018 as
unemployment drops below seven per cent and worst of
quadruple-dip recession is likely over, Forbes predicts. PTI
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