Mukesh Ambani: India and Asia’s wealthiest individual witnessed a $2.8 billion increase in wealth on Thursday, reaching $101.8 billion. This surge is attributed to a 2.6% rise in the shares of his flagship company, Reliance Industries Ltd., closing at a record high. Notably, this marks his return to the $100-billion club for the first time since June 2022, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Reliance’s chairman, Mukesh Ambani, owns 42% of the company, which operates in the energy, telecommunications, and retail sectors, among others. Its stock has risen 22% since its bottom in October when the company announced an increase in quarterly profit.
Ranked as the 12th wealthiest individual globally, the billionaire surpasses L’Oreal heiress Francoise Bettencourt Meyers in terms of wealth.
Mukesh Ambani re-enters the $100 billion club as Reliance stock soars by a record 2.6%.
Ambani stands out among the richest people in the world, most of whom have acquired their fortunes in the technology sector, with a fortune ranging from oil refining to supermarkets. Compared to his fellow Indian, Gautam Adani, who was formerly the richest person in the country, his ascent up the wealth rankings has been more steady. Adani lost more money than anyone else in 2023 after a blistering short-seller campaign and now ranks two points behind Ambani on the index.
Ambani, 66, has contributed to Reliance being the biggest firm in India in terms of market value. The company’s focus has shifted in recent years from fossil fuels to technology and renewable energy. Ambani’s wealth sources were further expanded with the listing of Reliance’s financial services division, Jio Financial Services Ltd., last year.
Despite having barely increased in value by roughly 1% since coming public in August, Jio is still the third-largest shadow lender in India based on market value. According to those familiar with the plans, the company’s ultimate goal is to create an Indian equivalent of WeChat, a massive app that unifies digital finance, stock trading, video streaming, and online shopping. Jio revealed that its quarterly profit doubled in its first set of earnings since it was separated from Reliance.
Mukesh Ambani
Ambani has given his three children operational control to prevent a repeat of the violent succession conflict he and his younger brother Anil experienced almost twenty years ago.
His elder son, Brown University alumni Akash, assumed the role of chairman of the wireless operator Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. last year, while his younger son, Anant, assumed responsibility for the company’s renewable energy division. Isha, his daughter, who graduated from Yale University and worked as a consultant for McKinsey & Co., is in charge of the group’s retail division. In August of last year, Reliance appointed all three of them to its board.
