Mukesh Ambani Skyscraper Home: Antilia Is Most Expensive Home in the World

Summary: Indian business magnate Mukesh Ambani's skyscraper home in Mumbai, named Antilia, is the most expensive home in the world in 2014.

Antilia ~ Jay Hariani, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

American business magazine Forbes ranks Indian business magnate Mukesh Dhirubhai Ambani (born April 19, 1957), with a net worth of $21.5 billion ($21,500,000,000.00), as the 33rd richest man in the world. Mukesh is the richest man in India. Mukesh's wealth derives from petrochemicals manufacturing, oil and gas production, and textiles (polyester).

As Chairman of Reliance Industries, founded in 1966 by his father, Dhirubhai Ambani (Dec. 28, 1932-July 6, 2002), he controls the prized Krishna Godavari Dhirubhai 6 (KG-D6) offshore natural gas field. Discovered by Reliance Industries in 2002 in the Bay of Bengal, 30-plus miles (50 kilometers) offshore from Kakinada in northeastern Andhra Pradesh state, KG-D6 comprises India's biggest natural gas reserves.

Mukesh's expanding empire includes Network18 Media and Investments Limited, which his corporation purchased in May 2014 for $655 million ($655,000,000.00). The mass media outfit includes network business channel CNBC TV18 and news and current affairs channel CNN-IBN and also publishes Forbes India.

Mukesh Ambani at CNBC India Business Leader Awards 2010, Mumbai ~ www.filmitadka.in, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Mukesh's house occupies the top spot as the world's most expensive home on Forbes' 2014 list of the most expensive billionaire-owned homes in the world.

Named Antilia after a phantom island sighted in the 15th century in the Atlantic Ocean west of the Iberian Peninsula, Mukesh's skyscraper home is sited on posh Altamount Road. Also known as S.K. Barodawalla Marg, Altamount Road is sited in the affluent Cumballa Hill neighborhood of south Mumbai, India's wealthiest city.

Antilia soars to a height of 568 feet (173 meters).

Antilia is designed to withstand an 8.0-magnitude Richter Scale earthquake.

Double- and triple-height ceilings for Antilia's 27 floors account for an actual height equivalent to a 40-story building.

A staff of 600 reportedly tends to the world's first $1 billion home, with floor allotments for:
three helipads on rooftop;
airspace floor for air traffic control;
four floors, with panoramic views, for Mukesh, his wife Nita (born November 1, 1963), their three children -- twins Isha and Akash (born ca. 1992) and Anant (born ca. 1996) -- and Mukesh's mother Kokilaben (born February 24, 1934);
two floors of glass-fronted apartments as guest quarters;
two floors for health center featuring dance studio, gym, swimming pool and yoga studio;
four floors for open-air balcony gardens;
one floor for entertainment, highlighted with a 50-seat auditorium;
maintenance floors, with one dedicated to on-the-spot repairs for Mukesh's fleet;
six floors for parking, with spaces for 168 cars.

Antilia was designed by Perkins+Will, a global firm of architects, designers, and planners founded in Chicago, Illinois, in 1935 by Lawrence B. Perkins (Feb. 12, 1907-Dec. 3, 1997) and Philip Will, Jr. (1906-Oct. 24, 1985).

Leading international contractor Leighton Holdings, founded in Melbourne, southern Australia, in 1949 by Stanley Ellis Leighton (1898-June 12, 1991), oversaw construction.

Taking into account the ever-rising values of property in Mumbai, Forbes places a price tag of $1 to $2 billion on Antilia and ranks the towering home as the world's most expensive residence.

On Oct. 28, 2010, a housewarming party officially welcomed Antilia as the Mukesh Ambani family home.

Antilia now defines Mumbai's dynamic skyline, keeping company with India's tallest buildings, Imperial Tower 1 and Imperial Tower 2, each 61 stories at height of 833 feet (254 meters).

Antilia is ranked as the 22nd tallest building in India.

Mumbai skyline: Antilia (right center) keeps company with Imperial Towers (center) ~ Satish Krishnamurthy (Unlisted Sightings), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Mukesh Ambani at CNBC India Business Leader Awards 2010, Mumbai: www.filmitadka.in, CC BY SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons @ http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mukesh_Ambani_1.jpg

Antilia: Jay Hariani, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/jhariani/4801125226/

Mumbai skyline - Imperial Towers: Satish Krishnamurthy (Unlisted Sightings), CC BY 2.0, via Flickr @ https://www.flickr.com/photos/unlistedsightings/5296096484/

For further information:

Carlyle, Erin. "The Most Expensive Billionaire Homes In The World." Forbes > Business. May 13, 2014.
Available @ http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2014/05/13/the-most-expensive-billionaire-homes-in-the-world/#70a622434161

Marriner, Derdriu. "Christy Walton: The Richest Woman in the World in 2014 and Again in 2015." Earth and Space News. Friday, Jan. 30, 2015.
Available @ https://earth-and-space-news.blogspot.com/2015/01/christy-walton-richest-woman-in-world.html

"Mukesh Ambani's housewarming in November." NDTV > Photos > News.
Available @ http://www.ndtv.com/photos/news/mukesh-ambanis-housewarming-in-november-8440#photo-103393