High above the chaos of Mumbai, where honking rickshaws weave through traffic and crumbling high-rises compete for space, a shimmering glass tower juts defiantly into the skyline. It doesn’t bear the name of a corporation or hotel chain. It isn’t a government building or a temple. It’s a private home. A residence—but not just any.
This is Antilia, the personal skyscraper mansion of Mukesh Ambani, the richest person in India, with a current worth of $90 billion. The land on which Antilia was built was purchased in 2006. Construction took four years. In the end, Ambani built a house so massive, so elaborate, and so mind-bendingly expensive, it makes Buckingham Palace look quaint. At 27 stories and 400,000 square feet, Antilia isn’t just the world’s most expensive private home—it’s a vertical city of wealth, staffed by hundreds, wrapped in myth, and topped with helipads.
But to understand the madness of Antilia, you first have to understand the man behind it—and the journey that took him from a modest Mumbai apartment to the stratosphere of global wealth.
INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP via Getty Images
From Yarn Trader’s Son to Asia’s Richest Man
Mukesh Ambani was born in 1957 to Dhirubhai Ambani, a former gas station worker turned textile trader who founded Reliance Industries. Mukesh earned a chemical engineering degree and dropped out of Stanford’s MBA program in the early ’80s to help expand the family business.
Together, father and son built the world’s largest oil refinery in Jamnagar and turned Reliance into a petrochemical powerhouse. After Dhirubhai’s death in 2002 sparked a feud between Mukesh and his brother Anil, the business empire split. Mukesh took control of oil, gas, and petrochemicals—and later launched Jio, a revolutionary mobile network that upended India’s telecom industry.
By 2025, Mukesh Ambani is worth roughly $90 billion, the richest man in Asia, and chairman of a company valued at over $200 billion. He doesn’t collect homes around the globe. Instead, he built one towering statement.
A Home Named for a Myth
Antilia is named after a legendary phantom island in the Atlantic, rumored by explorers to be a land of untold wealth. Built on Altamount Road, one of the most expensive streets in the world, the tower was designed by U.S. firm Perkins & Will and Australian construction company Leighton Holdings.
Construction began in 2006. By the time it was completed in 2010, it had become a $1 billion vertical palace, blending Hindu symbolism with cutting-edge engineering. Its motifs—the lotus and the sun—appear throughout the structure in crystal, marble, and mother-of-pearl.
INDRANIL MUKHERJEE/AFP/Getty Images
Inside the Vertical Palace
No two floors are the same. Each level uses different materials, layouts, and energy flows, following the principles of Vastu Shastra, a Hindu system of architecture similar to feng shui. In fact, Vastu concerns reportedly delayed the family’s move-in; the building sat eerily vacant for over a year until priests performed rituals to align the space.
The upper floors are reserved for the Ambani family’s living quarters, with panoramic views of the Arabian Sea. Below them? A universe of opulence.
There’s a ballroom with massive chandeliers, a 50-seat theater, a spa and yoga studio, multiple swimming pools, a temple, a salon, and an ice cream parlor. And if Mumbai’s scorching summer gets too intense, guests can retreat to the “snow room”, which creates artificial snowflakes 24/7.
Garage or Car Museum?
The first six floors of Antilia are dedicated to cars. Mukesh is a serious collector, and the 168-car garage holds everything from Bentleys to a ₹10 crore Mercedes Maybach. The seventh floor features an in-house auto service center.
At the very top of the home are three helipads—a feature so extravagant it required special approval from Indian aviation authorities.
The Staff of 600 and the Simplicity Within
Despite its extravagance, Antilia isn’t a party palace. The Ambanis are known to be private and devout vegetarians and teetotalers. Their meals are strictly alcohol-free, and their prayer rituals are daily. While 600 staff members keep the home running, the Ambani children reportedly had to clean their own rooms while home from college.
Myth, Luxury, and Controversy
Antilia is dazzling. It’s also controversial. From its $1 billion price tag to its towering presence in a city where millions live in poverty, the home has drawn sharp criticism. But the Ambanis rarely comment. They live quietly—above the clouds, out of reach, and on their own terms.
In the end, Antilia isn’t just a house. It’s a story. A monument to ambition, legacy, and the boundless wealth of one of the world’s most powerful families. Whether you see it as a symbol of progress or excess, one thing is certain: there is no other home on Earth quite like it.
12 Facts About Antilia
Before you go, here’s a summary of the 12 facts about Antilia:
#1. While many of the world’s wealthiest families have multiple homes around the world, Antilia is the Ambani family’s sole residence. The property is built on a 50,000-square-foot plot in the southwest of Mumbai.
#2. The 400,000-square-foot residence has 27 floors, but because each floor’s ceilings are so high, it’s actually as tall as a 60-floor equivalent building. Antilia technically contains more floor space than Versailles.
#3. Antilia employs a full-time staff of 600 to look after those 400,000 square feet. When the Ambani children are home from college in the United States, they still clean their own rooms like average middle-class kids.
#4. There have been many reports that Antilia is located in the slums of Mumbai. This is not true. It is located on Altamount Road, one of the world’s most expensive addresses. Admittedly, though, the slums are not that far away and definitely visible from the home’s upper floors.
#5. The lobby of the home has nine elevators, and no floor is alike in terms of design. Mukesh’s wife, Nita, ensured that there is no design repetition anywhere in the residence.
#6. As you might expect, considering Mukesh’s love of cars, Antilia’s garage takes up six floors and can fit 168 cars. The seventh floor features a fully functional motor vehicle service station.
#7. There are terraced gardens, a spa, and a temple where the family prays regularly. This “recreation center” in the home is two stories tall. The home’s exterior hanging gardens absorb sunlight and help keep the building naturally cool.
#8. Antilia is named after a mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean.
#9. The Ambani family’s living quarters are located on the top floors so they can take advantage of the sunlight.
#10. The residence incorporates two design motifs: The lotus and the sun are found throughout the home in rare materials like marble, crystal, and mother-of-pearl.
#11. The Ambanis are vegetarians and teetotalers. Wine is only served during rare cocktail hours. Meals are alcohol-free and vegetarian, regardless of whether their guests are meat eaters or not.
#12. Antilia has a theater that seats 50, a ballroom, a salon, multiple swimming pools, yoga studios, dance studios an entire floor dedicated to ice cream. If you’re looking to beat the brutal Mumbai summer temperatures, guests can find relief in the “snow room” – a room that spits out man-made snowflakes 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
