At 91, Subbamma Jasti becomes India’s oldest female billionaire

Subbamma Jasti has become India’s oldest female billionaire, according to the Forbes World’s Real Time Billionaires list, at 91 years of age.

With a net worth of $1.1 billion, she stands at 2,650 rank in the world, according to Forbes.

Hailing from Hyderabad, Jasti's inheritance is primarily derived from the sale of a substantial stake in listed Suven Pharmaceuticals in 2022 to global private equity firm Advent International.

She also inherited the assets of her husband Subba Rao Jasti, who died in February 2023.

Suven Pharmaceuticals was founded by Jasti’s son, Venkateswarlu Jasti, in 1989. He ran a chain of six community pharmacies in New York and New Jersey in the 1970s and 1980s. The Hyderabad-based company was demerged in 2020 when Suven Life Sciences, which focuses on neuroscience therapies, was listed separately.

Apart from Jasti, Savitri Jindal claimed the position of the richest Indian woman, with a net worth of $35.5 billion in the Forbes’ World Billionaires List 2024. 

With Mukesh Ambani topping the list of Indian billionaires at a net worth of $116 billion, followed by Gautam Adani at $84 billion, Jindal is the fourth richest individual in India. She stands at 46th position in the world. 

In 2024, Forbes reported that the number of Indian billionaires on its list increased to 200, up from 169 the previous year. Additionally, the proportion of female billionaires rose to 13.3%, with 369 out of 2,781 billionaires being women, compared to 12.8% in 2023 when there were 337 female billionaires.