As billionaires and celebrities flocked to Anant Ambani, the youngest son of billionaire Mukesh Ambani, for his spectacular pre-wedding celebration on Friday, all eyes were on bride-to-be Radhika Merchant, a businesswoman and the daughter of Indian pharmaceutical tycoons.
Merchant is the daughter of Viren and Shaila Merchant, who created the multinational pharmaceutical firm Encore Healthcare in 2002.
Merchant, 29, earned an international baccalaureate degree from B.D. Somani International School in Mumbai before graduating from New York University in 2017 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Merchant interned at several companies while at NYU, including Cedar Consultants in Mumbai as a business strategy consultant intern, before joining luxury real estate firm Isprava.
According to various sources, Merchant currently sits on Encore Healthcare’s board of directors alongside her sister, Anjali, who works as a director—with her father as CEO and vice-chair and her mother as managing director.
According to DNA India, Merchant is also a professional classical dancer who studied Bharatanatyam at the Shree Nibha Arts Dance College in Mumbai for eight years before completing official training in 2022.
According to USA Today, Ambani and Merchant got engaged in a traditional ceremony in January 2023 and are said to be childhood sweethearts. Mukesh Ambani, Merchant’s future father-in-law and chairman of Reliance Industries, is Asia’s wealthiest person, with an estimated net worth of $113.8 billion.
Anant is a director at Reliance’s energy business and has a variety of other positions at his father’s company. Ambani and Merchant’s three-day pre-wedding celebration began on Friday, with numerous billionaires in attendance, including Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. Their wedding is set for July 12, according to the Times of India.
