The Ambanis are the 10th richest family in the world. They're not quiet about it.

It's safe to say that my Roman empire is an actual empire (sort of). It's the Ambani family. 

You might've been hearing the Ambani name floating around your social media feeds recently. That's because billionaire mogul Mukesh Ambani's son Anant and his partner Radhika Merchant's multimillion-dollar wedding is taking place this weekend.

But the noise kicked off in March, Rihanna did a private performance in India at their pre-wedding celebration.

Rihanna hasn’t dropped an album in years but the richest Man in India has her performing at his kid’s wedding!! 😭 pic.twitter.com/vVtqFTrHQu

— Gracey 🦋 (@Gracebal0) March 2, 2024

Rihanna hasn't toured in seven years, despite fans constantly begging her to make and perform more music — so understandably her actions made headlines worldwide.

If you're wondering what got Rihanna out of her performance retirement... A lot of money. According to Business Insider, among other sources, it's speculated that Rihanna was paid somewhere in the vicinity of $7.6 million to $13.7 million for her set.

And that was just one of the two pre-wedding celebrations. The wedding itself will stretch from July 12-14.

So exactly who are the people who tempted Rihanna back onto the stage — AKA the Ambanis?

Watch: Behind Fenty skin with Rihanna. Post continues below. 

Who are the Ambanis?

Mukesh Ambani, 67, is an Indian businessman with a net worth of $117.3 billion, making him the richest person in Asia and the 10th richest person in the entire world. His wife, Nita Ambani, 60, is a philanthropist, and in 2016 she became the first Indian woman to become a member of the International Olympic Committee. 

Mukesh and Nita have three children: 32-year-old twins Akash and Isha, and Anant, who's 29. Anant's pre-wedding is where Rihanna performed recently.

The Ambanis live in a building called Antilia. If you've ever visited Mumbai, you definitely cannot miss it. It's a private 27-story building that is valued at around $3 billion, and the second-most expensive residence in the world (Buckingham Palace is first).

The Antilia in Mumbai, residence of the Ambani family. Image source: Getty.

Some interesting features of the building include three helicopter pads, a 168-car garage, a ballroom, nine elevators, a 50-seat theatre, a swimming pool, a spa, a health centre, a temple, a snow room that spits out snowflakes from the walls (as wild as this sounds, this is my favourite feature of them all) and a staff of around 600.

It has to be said that the Ambanis' fortune is quite contentious with people calling them out for not using their wealth to help better the standard of living of India's residents. As someone who has seen their residence in person, I can't help but feel a bit gross seeing so much wealth sticking out among a vast sea of people who are living below the poverty line.

How did the Ambanis make their fortune?

I know what you're thinking: how the heck does this family have so much money?

Remember when I said that Mukesh Ambani is a billionaire businessman? Well, it's more like he's THE billionaire businessman. Mukesh is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries. Reliance is a multinational conglomerate and is India's largest public company. It is also the 100th largest company in the world. 

Its businesses cover pretty much everything — literally — including retail, telecommunications, mass media, entertainment and textiles. Its largest revenue driver, however, is the production of petrochemicals. Of course, like every billionaire, Mukesh has his entire family in positions of power as board members and heads of Reliance's adjacent verticals. Succession, anyone?

This is exactly why Mukesh goes all out for his family when it comes to celebrating big milestones.

What's an Ambani wedding like?

Anant's pre-wedding wasn't the first time the family has gone over the top for celebrations. Both Isha's and Akash's weddings were as headline-worthy.

For Isha's Sangeet (a celebratory event during an Indian wedding) in 2018, the one and only Beyoncé performed and was reportedly paid $4 million. John Legend also performed for Isha's engagement party, while other A-list guests included The Clintons, and Priyanka and Nick Jonas. Isha was also part of Priyanka's bridal party at her wedding.

For Akash's pre-wedding in 2021, Coldplay performed, and The Chainsmokers made an appearance. Maroon 5 was also in attendance and played during the ceremony.

The payment of A-list performers isn't where the buck stops at these events, either. Anant's pre-wedding celebration had more than 1,200 guests and the entire shindig reportedly cost them $183 million. Besides Rihanna, other A-listers in attendance included Ivanka Trump, Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.

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A post shared by Mark Zuckerberg (@zuck)

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A post shared by Bill Gates (@thisisbillgates)

When is Anant Ambani's wedding?

As we've seen in previous Ambani weddings, the majority of the celebrations take place before the actual wedding ceremony, which is happening July 12-14, 2024. And yes, of course there's been a big A-list celebrity performance: Justin Bieber's appearance at the sangeet is reportedly setting the family back approximately $14.7 million.

Petty cash to the Ambanis.

Feature Image: Getty.

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This article was originally published in March 2024 and has since been updated.