The Man Who Could Build A House Out of Gold

5 March 2026

Imagine you needed 16,000 kilograms of gold for a construction project. You could call Joy Alukkas. He already has it.

The Kerala-born tycoon built one of the world’s largest family-owned jewellers from origins that could hardly be more modest. His father started the first jewellery showroom in 1956 – a modest business in Thrissur, Kerala, with roots not in gold but in umbrella manufacturing and stationery. Joy entered the gold trade as a teenager, helping his father at 14, and never completed his pre-degree education.

In 1987, he flew to Abu Dhabi – his first ever flight – with several doubts and questions in his head. What followed was one of the great entrepreneurial stories of the Gulf. Today the Joyalukkas Group spans around 200 stores across the UAE, India, and the US, holding nearly 16,000 kg of gold – jewellery and bars combined. Forbes places his net worth at $4.4 billion, ranking him among the 50 richest people in India.

He didn’t get here smoothly. When the Gulf War broke out in 1990, it disrupted everything and forced him back to India – but a resilient Joy returned to the Gulf months later and re-established his footprint. His own account of that journey is characteristically blunt: “My success did not come overnight. There were challenges, but I faced them head-on.”

Now he has something important to say about gold itself – and this is where it gets serious.

Speaking to Bloomberg in Dubai, Alukkas was clear: “Whenever global tensions rise, people turn to gold as a safe investment, which pushes prices higher.” He added that over the next two to three years, until the US economy and global conditions improve, gold prices are unlikely to see a major decline.

He is not alone in that view. J.P. Morgan forecasts gold pushing towards $5,000 per ounce by the fourth quarter of 2026, with $6,000 a possibility longer term, driven by sustained central bank and investor demand. Gold is currently trading at around $5,161 per ounce – up dramatically from $2,639 at the start of 2025.

The lesson from the man who holds 16 tonnes of the stuff? In a world of geopolitical fracture, trade wars, military strikes, and dollar anxiety, gold isn’t a relic – it’s a refuge. And the price of that refuge is still rising.