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Premji, Ambani in top 50 world billionaires' list in 2000: Forbes

Two Indian families are among the 50 richest in the world, according to the Forbes billionaire list 2000.

The pride of place goes to the families of Azim Premji and Dhirubhai Ambani.

Premji, owner of technology and IT major Wipro Limited took the 43rd position with a wealth of $6.9 billion. Ambani and his family of petrochemicals major Reliance Industries Limited was ranked at the 45th position and accounted for a wealth of $6.6 billion.

Microsoft Chief Bill Gates who was ranked first in 1999 with $90 billion retained the top position in 2000 also. However, his wealth has depreciated by 33.33 per cent to $60 billion due to global meltdown.

Both the Indians have posted extra-ordinary growth rates during the year. Ambanis posted a 450 per cent growth and their net worth was ranked at $6.6 billion against $1.2 billion in the previous year.

Similarly, in one year, Premji and family's wealth has grown from $2.8 billion to $6.9 billion, posting a growth of 146 per cent.

The Forbes list is dominated by the Americans with 23 billionaires coming from the United States. Europe includes 13 billionaires -- three each from Germany, France, Sweden; two from Switzerland and one each from Turkey and Italy. Canada had one billionaire in the list.

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