Mukesh Ambani once again Asia’s Richest person, dethrones Alibaba’s Jack Ma

RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani has reclaimed the title of Asia’s richest person from Chinese tech entrepreneur Jack Ma. This happened after the Reliance Jio-Facebook deal that was announced on Wednesday. Equity markets reacted positively to the news of Facebook investing in Reliance Jio. This deal helped the share price of Reliance Industries Ltd hit an upper circuit after jumping 10%.

As per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani’s fortune rose by $4.69 billion to $49.2 billion after Reliance Industries gained 10 percent. The ranking that changes after the close of every trading day in the US puts Ambani $3.2 billion ahead of Jack Ma’s $46 billion.

In early March, Jack Ma had surpassed Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest man after oil saw the biggest plunge in 29 years.

Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook on Thursday had announced an investment worth $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) in Ambani’s Reliance Jio for a 9.99% minority stake. The deal puts Ambani back on track to empower mom & pop stores across the country too. The Reliance Industries Chairman said that the RIL-Facebook deal would be a milestone for the government’s ‘Digital India’ initiative.

Analysts believe that the largest FDI investment for a minority stake will help Mukesh Ambani lead his Reliance Industries towards the goal of becoming a net-debt free company by next year.

Globally, Mukesh Ambani has lost his spot in the world’s top 10 richest people and now sits at the 17th spot ahead of MacKenzie Bezos and Jack Ma. The fall is attributed to RIL shares that fell as much as 26% this year.

Also Read: Facebook Buys 9.99 Per Cent Stake In Reliance Jio