Prakash Hinduja among Switzerland’s richest people

Prakash Hinduja (left) has been a Swiss citizen since 2000 Richter Frank-Jurgen/Flickr Creative Commons

The chairman of the Hinduja Group of Companies in Europe is one of the richest persons in Switzerland according to an annual ranking released by the Bilanz magazine on Friday. He is estimated to be worth close to CHF4.5 billion ($4.36 billion). 

The 70-year-old Geneva resident was placed in the CHF4-4.5 billion category. In 2014, he was estimated to be worth around CHF3.75 billion. The Bilanz 2015 Swiss rich list is headed by the Kamprad family that founded IKEA and are worth around CHF44-45 billion.

Hinduja beat well-known Swiss residents like Formula 1 personalities Bernie Ecclestone (CHF2.5-3 billion) and Michael Schumacher (CHF700-800 million), musicians Shania Twain (400-450 million), Tina Turner and Phil Collins (both CHF200-250 million), and sports stars Roger Federer (CHF350-400 million) and Sebastian Vettel (CHF100-150 million). 

Prakash Hinduja acquired Swiss citizenship in 2000 along with his wife. His three children are also Swiss citizens. The Hinduja Group employs around 70,000 people worldwide in diverse sectors like banking and finance, transport, energy, technology, media and telecom. 

The Hinduja brothers are included in Forbe’s 2015 rich list, and are ranked the 69^th richest family in the world. Brothers Srichand and Gopichand are based in London while youngest Ashok is based in India. The combined wealth of the family is estimated at $15.1 billion. 

The three Hinduja brothers Prakash, Srichand and Gopichand were also linked to the infamous Bofors scandal, in which Swedish defence firm Bofors was accused of bribing Indian politicians in order to win a $1.4 billion contract to sell 410 howitzers in 1986. They were charged by the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in 2000 but acquitted by the Delhi High Court in 2005 for lack of evidence.