Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar is set to be sworn in as Karnataka Chief Minister on 3 June. With his appointment, Shivakumar is expected to become India’s richest chief minister by declared assets, overtaking his Andhra Pradesh counterpart N Chandrababu Naidu.
Sixty-four-year-old Shivakumar, also known as DKS, has declared a net worth of over ₹1,413 crore. DKS is all set to surpass Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who is currently the richest chief minister with declared assets of about ₹931 Crore.
Tamil Nadu chief minister Joseph Vijay follows Naidu with a net worth of over ₹640 crore.
DKS Net Worth
According to the 2023 Karnataka Assembly election affidavit filed by DK Shivakumar, has declared combined assets worth around ₹1,413 crore, up from ₹840 crore in 2018.
The net worth of Karnataka’s next chief minister includes movable assets worth ₹1,140 crore and immovable properties valued at ₹273 crore, against liabilities of about ₹265 crore.
Known for his flamboyant public image, Shivakumar’s affidavit also listed luxury watches, gold and silver holdings and a Toyota Qualis as his registered vehicle. DKS has also declared that he owns luxury watches from brands such as Rolex and Hublot, besides holdings in gold and silver.
DKS is an eight-time MLA representing Kanakapura in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly.
The other wealthy Chief Ministers
Incidentally, all three richest chief ministers are from Southern states.
Pema Khandu, the BJP leader, who is the chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh and has a declared net worth of over ₹330 crore, according to an analysis of affidavit by election watchdog, Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) Siddaramaiah, the outgoing CM of Karnataka was also among top 10 richest chief ministers of India with a declared wealth of over ₹50 crore.
Chandrababu Naidu’s net worth
TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu’s declared assets of ₹936 crore, in the election affidavit, made him the wealthiest chief minister in India when he took oath for the of office in 2024. The bulk of his wealth stems from his 2,26,11,525 shares in Heritage Foods Limited (HFL). At the time of filing his election affidavit, each HFL share was valued at ₹337.85, resulting in an asset value of ₹763.93 crore.
Nara Bhuvaneshwari, Naidu’s wife is vice chairperson and managing director of Heritage Foods Ltd,one of India’s leading dairy and retail enterprises, which she has helmed since its inception.
Actor Vijay’s net worth
Vijay, who took oath as Tamil Nadu chief minister on 10 March, has declared a net worth if over ₹648 crore, as per his election affidavit filed in late March.
This includes movable assets of ₹404 crore and immovable assets of ₹220 crore, as declared by the actor-politician in his election affidavit.
Vijay’s spouse owns a net worth of ₹15.7 crore, including movable property worth ₹15.51 crore and immovable property valued at ₹25 lakh.
Who is crisis manager DKS?
Raised in Doddalahalli village near Kanakapura, Shivakumar was born in 1962 to farmers Kempegowda and Gouramma.
Shivakumar entered the Karnataka Legislative Assembly in 1989, winning from Sathanur. Over subsequent terms, DKS held portfolios including Home Guards and Prisons (1991-92), Urban Development (1999-2004), Energy (2013-18), and Water Resources and Medical Education (2018-19). DKS became KPCC president in 2020 and Deputy Chief Minister in May 2023 alongside Siddaramaiah.
Over the years, DKS has built a reputation as a master strategist, largely due to his role in stabilising Congress governments and managing key electoral turnarounds.
DKS is often praised for playing a critical role in the formation of the coalition government of Congress and JD(S) in Karnataka after the 2018 elections. DKS has also been the Congress party’s go-to man outside of Karnataka. In 2001, for example, he hosted Congress MLAs from Maharashtra in Bengaluru as the Vilasrao Deshmukh-led government faced a crisis.
DKS was in the news just before the Gujarat Rajya Sabha elections in 2017, whe he famously assisted his party in moving Gujarat Congress MLAs to his resort in Bengaluru to prevent them from joining the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).