Vijay Mallya exits Forbes rich list as his fortune dips

New York: Liquor baron Vijay Mallya has been moved out of Forbes' global rich list of 1,226 billionaires, even as the number of Indians in this elite club has grown since last year. With a net worth of USD one billion, Mallya was ranked 45th among 48 Indians on this annual rich list in March 2012, while he was placed at 1,153rd position globally.

However, Mallya is missing from the list for 2013, which was released last night by the business magazine Forbes that is known for its rankings of rich and powerful from across the world.

The list includes only those with a net worth of USD one billion and more and the number of such persons has grown to a record number of 1,226 this year, Forbes said. The 2013 list has 55 persons from India, up from 48 last year.

While Mallya's current net worth is not known, Forbes magazine's Indian edition had put the size of his fortune at USD 800 million in an India Rich List published few months ago in October 2012.

Amid huge debt burden and mounting losses at Kingfisher Airlines, Malllya's fortunes has been declining continuously over the recent years and his net worth was pegged at USD 1.4 billion in March 2011. UB Group has also proposed to sell a majoirty stake in United Spirits Ltd to UK-based Diageo.

"King of good times is having nothing but bad times lately. His (Mallya's) Kingfisher Airlines, weighed down by what is believed to be USD 2 billion in debt, had its licence suspended in mid-October after it apparently failed to address Indian regulator's concerns about its ability to operate," Forbes India had said in October 2012.

A day after Forbes India Rich List of 2012 put his net worth at below USD one billion, Mallya had tweeted that he was thankful to the "Almighty" for being out of billionaires club.

"Thanks to the Almighty that Forbes has removed me from the so called Billionaires list. Less jealousy, less frenzy and wrongful attacks," he had posted on the social networking site.

While his name was not among the billionaires, he still figured on Forbes' India Rich List at that time, as the rankings were for 100 richest in the country and included even those with a net worth of below USD one billion.