Mukesh Ambani, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director, became the world’s sixth-richest person, surpassing Alphabet co-founder Larry Page, after his real-time net worth rose by $2.17 billion to $72.4 billion on Monday, July 13. Aside from being the richest Indian and Asian, Ambani, 63, is now all set to join the exclusive club of the world’s top five richest people.
On the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the real-time net worth of Mukesh Ambani climbed to $72.4 billion (Rs 5.44 lakh crore), a rise of $2.17 billion compared to yesterday. It is worth noting that Ambani has added almost $7.9 billion to his fortune in the past 22 days amid a record-breaking rally in the shares of Reliance Industries. Last week, Ambani displaced Warren Buffett, known as the Oracle of Omaha, to become the eighth richest man, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
With Monday’s 3% jump in RIL’s shares, Ambani’s wealth has risen by $2.17 billion to $72.4 billion. Worth mentioning here is that the RIL stock has outperformed the Sensex by soaring 29% so far this year, compared with an 11% drop in the benchmark index.
Following the surge in its share price, the oil-to-telecom conglomerate’s market valuation jumped by Rs 38,163.22 crore to Rs 12,29,020.35 crore on the BSE. Analysts say the RIL shares have been on a rise since the company announced its plan to reduce its net debt to zero by March 2021 and stake sales in its digital arm Jio Platforms.
Recently, the company announced itself net debt-free, nine months ahead of the actual deadline of Ambani’s promise of becoming one. The company is slated to hold its 43rd annual general meeting (AGM) via video conferencing on Wednesday (July 15).
Ambani’s net worth of Rs 5.44 lakh crore is higher than the combined net worth of India’s next five billionaires—Azim Premji ($16.9 billion), Shiv Nadar ($15.8 billion), Gautam Adani ($12.6 billion), Radhakishan Damani ($11.8 billion) and Cyrus Poonawala ($11.8 billion). Of late, Ambani, who owns 42 per cent of RIL, has benefited from a flurry of investment into the company’s digital unit, Jio Platforms Ltd.
RIL’s retail business and Jio have jointly contributed approximately 33% to the consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda) of RIL in FY20. Furthermore, Reliance Retail is the country’s biggest retail company, with revenue of about Rs 1.63 lakh crore for FY20 and Ebitda of Rs 9,654 crore.
Jio, which has attracted around Rs 1.18 lakh crore through stake sales to 12 investors, including Mark Zuckerberg-controlled Facebook, had announced the latest deal on Sunday (July 12) evening when Qualcomm acquired up a 0.15 per cent stake.
