- The net worth of Mukesh Ambani, president of Reliance Industries Ltd., has soared to $64.5 billion, making him the only Asian tycoon in the exclusive club of the world’s top 10 richest men.
The richest man in Asia has entered a new wealth table.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the net worth of Mukesh Ambani, president of Reliance Industries Ltd., has soared to $64.5 billion, making him the only Asian tycoon in the exclusive club of the world’s top 10 richest men. He overtook Oracle Corp.’s Larry Ellison, and France’s Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the richest woman, to hit the No. 9 spot.
Ambani, who owns 42 percent of Reliance, has benefited from a surge of investment in the digital unit of the group, Jio Platforms Ltd., which Reliance said has made it free of net debt ahead of a March 2021 deadline.
The Indian conglomerate ‘s shares have doubled from a low in March, even as the effects of the coronavirus pandemic hit other billionaires on the list.
“RIL has raised Rs 1,68,818 crore in just 58 days through investments from global tech investors (Rs 1,15,693,95 crore) and rights issues (Rs 53,124,20 crore),” the company said in a statement.
The deals helped Ambani, Asia’s richest man, get his flagship Reliance Industries Ltd. net debt-free ahead of its deadline of March 2021. Jio, the wireless unit of Reliance, became India’s biggest subscriber telecommunications operator last year and aims to use its approximately 400 million customers as the cornerstone of digital and e-commerce
After RIL’s stock price hit an all-time high of Rs 1,738.95 a share on Friday, Ambani’s net worth rose to USD 64.6 billion This happened after he announced that RIL is now a debt-free net enterprise. RIL became the first Indian company to be valued at USD 150 billion, or Rs 11.52 lakh crore, as on Friday end of the day.
The rise of the 63-year-old as India heads for its worst-ever recession is a reminder of the deep economic divide of the country, where the top 10 percent own more than three-quarters of total income, and where the bulk of new capital remains in the hands of the richest 1 percent.
Mukesh Ambani said Friday in a statement that Reliance Industries (RIL) has become debt-free after it managed to raise Rs 1,68,818 crore in just 58 days.
At last count, Ambani-led telecom venture Jio Platforms had raised Rs 1,15,693 crore within a span of eight weeks through 11 back-to-back deals. The flagship Reliance Group itself earned Rs 53,124.20 crore last month, through India’s largest issue of rights ever.
