The scale of their wealth
Health
The price of life
Let's compare Rakesh Mittal's fortune with the healthcare spending of a massive country
Rakesh Mittal could fund the entire healthcare system of DR Congo, with a population of over 105,800,000 people, for approximately 4.1 years.
But even if we compare their fortune with that of a rich country
On the other end, Rakesh Mittal could cover the healthcare spending of Luxembourg, considered the most heavily funded healthcare system in the world, for 1.8 years.
Education
Buying the future
Let's also compare their fortune with education spending, first with a poor country
Rakesh Mittal could cover the total cost of Nigeria's education system, the most populous country in Africa with over 243,000,000 inhabitants, for 2.7 years.
And yes, we can also compare it with a rich country
But they couldn't just cover the cost of a poor country; Luxembourg is considered the country with the highest per capita investment in education in the world, and Rakesh Mittal could pay for it entirely for 3.6 years.
Research
The monopoly on progress
Coming full circle, we think it's also interesting to add another gigantic country
Rakesh Mittal could fully fund the state research budget of Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world with over 260,000,000 inhabitants, for 15.2 years.
And of course, the country that invests the most per capita worldwide
But even if we compare the total wealth of Rakesh Mittal with Israel, the country that invests the most per capita in research in the world, they could cover the total cost of the system for 0.3 years.
Gold
Everyday luxuries
Rakesh Mittal's fortune is equivalent to 62 tons of gold. It's hard to process, since we don't usually keep a handful of gold bars in our piggy banks.
A standard gold ring usually weighs between 4 and 7 grams. Let's say this one weighs 5 grams. It's usually 18 karats.
Based on today's gold price (excluding the jeweler's commission, shipping, or anything else), that ring would be worth $546.86.
Rakesh Mittal could buy 16,537,745 gold rings. That's a lot of fingers and way too many gifts!!
And if you're struggling to visualize that many rings, it would take 3 trucks to transport them. Although Rakesh Mittal will almost certainly have enough money left over to pay for the gas.
Biography
Rakesh Mittal is a non-executive director of Bharti Airtel, one of India's largest mobile phone operators. It has more than 600 million customers across South Asia and Africa.
Airtel, which has SingTel as its partner, competes with Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Jio and Kumar Birla's Vodafone Idea.
In 2022, Google announced a $1 billion investment in Bharti Airtel,of which $700 million was for a minority stake in the company.
In March 2024, Indian-American billionaire investor Rajiv Jain's GQG Partners bought a $713 million stake in Bharti Airtel from SingTel.
Their Bharti Global, run by his nephew Shravin, has stakes in France's Eutelsat and U.K. telecoms company BT.
Financial Assets
Monthly wealth history
Fortune comparison
Historical data not available for comparison