TAsia’s dynamic wealth landscape has always captured the world’s attention, and Forbes magazine’s Real-Time Billionaires list has an impressive roster of names. But have you ever wondered who is at the top of this list of Asia’s richest people?
To no one’s surprise, as of January 2025, Asia’s richest person is Mukesh Ambani, with a staggering net worth of $101.9 billion. The list of richest Asians continues to expand across borders. In this article, we will introduce the richest people in Asia in 2025.
The world’s real-time billionaires list compiled by Forbes shows the top 10 richest people in Asia as of January 27, 2025.
Deeper insight: Asia’s richest people in 2025
Mukesh Ambani
Age: 67 years old Residence: Mumbai, India Nationality: Indian
Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, is Asia’s richest man. He entered the Indian Premier League (IPL) in 2008 as the owner of the Mumbai Indians. Reliance’s telecom and broadband service Jio already has nearly 476 million subscribers, but the recent debut of Jio Financial Services in August reflects the company’s expansion. horizon. Additionally, BlackRock and Jio Financial Services announced an agreement to form Jio BlackRock, a joint venture company in July 2023 that will provide advanced and innovative investment solutions to Indian investors.
Also Read: Top 10 Richest Women in India in 2025
Gautama Adani
Age: 62 Residence: Ahmedabad, India Citizenship: India
Gautam Adani heads Adani Group, a Rs 16.22-crore company spanning ports, airports, energy and green initiatives. Starting out as a trading company in 1988, he is now one of the richest people in Asia. He showcased his talents as India’s premier airport operator and manager of Gujarat’s important Mundra port. Moreover, his strategic acquisition of Holcim’s Indian assets in 2022 propelled him to the position of India’s second-largest cement producer.
Zhong Shanshan
Age: 70 years old
Place of residence: Hangzhou, China Nationality: Chinese
Zhong Shanshan, the brainchild behind bottled water company Nongfu Spring, ranks as the third richest person in Asia and tops the list of richest Chinese people. From construction work to journalism to beverage sales, his journey led him into entrepreneurship. Additionally, he has influence over Beijing Wandai Biological Pharmacy, which manufactures rapid diagnostic tests for COVID-19.
Prajogo Panguest
Age: 80 years old
Place of residence: Jakarta, Indonesia
Nationality: Indonesia
Energy and petrochemical tycoon Prajogo Pangestos is Indonesia’s richest man. He started in the timber business, but today his company PT Barito Pacific is one of Indonesia’s leaders in petrochemicals, plastics production, mining and thermal energy. His wealth increased significantly in 2023 as two of his group’s companies, Petrindo Jaya Creasi and Ballito Renewable Energy, went public.
Tadashi Yanai and family
Age: 75 years old Place of residence: Tokyo, Japan Nationality: Japanese
Tadashi Yanai is the mastermind behind Fast Retailing, the prominent Tokyo-listed clothing empire that controls the Uniqlo chain. Fast Retailing’s portfolio spans brands such as Theory, Helmut Lang, J Brand, and GU. In particular, its flagship brand, Uniqlo, boasts a huge presence with more than 2,400 stores in 25 countries, and Mr. Tadashi is ranked among the top 10 wealthy people in Asia. After opening its first store in Mumbai, India in October 2023, Uniqlo aims to grow and become the top brand in India, understanding the major competition from local and foreign brands.
Zhang Yimin
Age: 41 years old Residence: Beijing, China Nationality: Chinese
Zhang Yiming, the man behind Chinese tech giant ByteDance, is best known for creating the wildly popular app TikTok. It boasts an astonishing number of users of over 1 billion around the world. As of May 2024, he maintains a 21% stake in ByteDance. But its value faces uncertainty as TikTok could be banned in the US. Recently, the US Congress passed a new law that gives the US government the power to try to ban TikTok. Beyond its TikTok fame, ByteDance has expanded into various fields such as news, education, and gaming.
shiv nadal
Age: 79 Residence: New Delhi, India Nationality: Indian
Shiv Nadar, founder of HCL Technologies, is one of the most prominent figures in India’s IT and software space. He retired as chairman in 2020 and currently serves as honorary chairman of HCL Technologies. In addition to his business acumen and leadership abilities, Nadar is also known for his philanthropy. He donated 2.042 billion rupees in 2023, or about 5.6 billion rupees per day. His total donations to the Shiv Nadar Foundation exceed $1 billion. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, India’s third highest civilian award, by the Indian government.
Ma Huateng
Age: 53 years old Residence: Shenzhen, China Nationality: Chinese
Ma Huateng, known as Pony Ma, heads Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings. He oversees WeChat, a widely used messaging app with 1.2 billion active users, making him one of Asia’s richest people. Additionally, Tencent has significant interests in global gaming through its stake in Epic Games, ranking it among the top video game publishers. Ma’s influence extends to Tesla and Spotify through Tencent’s investment. In particular, he recently revealed Tencent’s plans to develop new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies for the broader benefit of humanity.
Savitri Jindal and family
Age: 74 Residence: Hisar, India Nationality: Indian
Savitri Jindal, widow of founder Om Prakash Jindal, is currently the chairman of the Jindal Group, which includes steel, power, cement and infrastructure. After the death of late Mr. OP Jindal, the group companies were divided among his sons. It is currently run independently. Her son, Sajjan Jindal, who is based in Mumbai, oversees the group’s most important assets. She is not only one of the richest people in Asia but also the richest woman in India. Savitri Jindal continues her husband’s legacy of helping society and the community by contributing to education, healthcare and other fields.
Li Ka Shing
Age: 96 years old Residence: Hong Kong Citizenship: Hong Kong
Li Ka-shing, one of Asia’s richest men, began his journey at the age of 21 in 1950 when he started Yangtze Plastics with $6,500 in savings and a loan from a relative. The generosity of his Li Ka-Shing Foundation is noteworthy. It has donated more than $3.8 billion to various causes, the majority of which has gone to Greater China. In particular, CK Hutchison Holdings, run by Li Ka-shing, and Vodafone Group recently agreed to merge their respective UK telecommunications businesses to become the country’s largest mobile phone operator.
