Ajay Piramal

Chairs Piramal Group with interests in pharma, life sciences, glass and real estate. Sold his domestic formulations business to U.S.-based Abbott Labs for a whopping $3.7 billion last year. In a separate deal, he also sold his diagnostics business to billionaire brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh for $ 129 million. Now focussing on real estate: reportedly plans to build luxury villas in Oman. His wife Swati, a qualified doctor, and daughter Nandini, a Stanford MBA., are directors. Onetime horse-riding champion, he draws inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita, the sacred Hindu text