Sunil Mittal Net Worth

Sunil Mittal has an estimated net worth of $13.4 billion, according to Forbes Real-Time Billionaires, Sunil Mittal profile (figures as of October 20, 2026). That is up from $6.1 billion in 2023.

Sunil Mittal is an Indian entrepreneur best known for building Bharti Enterprises and its flagship telecom company, Bharti Airtel. Airtel is one of India’s biggest mobile operators and serves more than 500 million customers across South Asia and Africa. Mittal started Bharti in 1976 as a bicycle parts maker, then moved into telecom equipment before shifting into mobile services. He is also Co-Chairman of Eutelsat and serves on the board of BT Group.

His wealth is tied mainly to telecom. Bharti launched GSM services in Delhi under the Airtel brand in 1995 and later expanded beyond India, including services in the Seychelles and a major African push through the 2010 Zain deal. Mittal also backed satellite company OneWeb, which later merged with Eutelsat. In 2024, Bharti Televentures UK acquired a 24.95% stake in BT Group. Forbes put his net worth at $13.4 billion on its real-time tracker as of October 20, 2026.

How Sunil Mittal built his fortune

Mittal’s fortune comes first from Bharti Airtel and the wider Bharti group. He began with a manufacturing business in 1976, then spotted an opening in telecom equipment in the 1980s with push-button phones. The bigger leap came when Bharti entered mobile services in 1992 and launched Airtel in 1995. Over time, the company spread across India, South Asia, and Africa, turning telecom into the core of his wealth.

Other holdings added to that base. Bharti became a founding investor in OneWeb in 2015, and Mittal later helped lead a $1 billion consortium to acquire the company after its 2020 bankruptcy filing. In 2022, he agreed to merge OneWeb with Eutelsat in a deal valuing OneWeb at $3.4 billion. He also built a position in BT Group in 2024 and took a board seat there. Google’s $1 billion Airtel investment in 2022 also highlighted outside backing for the business.

Forbes net worth and recent money moves

Forbes has raised its estimate of Mittal’s wealth sharply in recent years. It put him at $6.1 billion in 2023, then $9.2 billion in 2024, $12.1 billion in 2025, and $14.2 billion in 2026 on the World’s Billionaires list. On Forbes’ real-time billionaires tracker, he stood at $13.4 billion in October 2026. Those changes tracked the value of his telecom and related investments over time.

The business story behind that rise is broad, but telecom stays at the center. Airtel has more than 500 million customers across South Asia and Africa and competes with Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea. Mittal also kept expanding around that core through satellite and international telecom assets. In March 2024, GQG Partners bought a $713 million stake in Bharti Airtel from SingTel. Separate from business, Mittal and his 2 siblings pledged $1.1 billion to their charitable foundation.