Mukesh Ambani moves up ‘rich list’ by 2 slots

The fortunes of Mukesh Ambani are closely tied up with the ebb and flow of the stock market, and now with the Sensex touching the 50,000-mark, the billionaire has also moved up two slots in the global rich list.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) is now the seventh richest man globally with a net worth of $91 billion.

Zhong Shanshan, the richest

However, Zhong Shanshan, Chairman of the Chinese bottled-water company Nongfu Spring, continues to be the richest Asian with a networth of $100 billion, and ranks the sixth richest globally. Zhong with a networth of $93.8 billion as of January 8 had dethroned Ambani (with a networth of $88 billion then) to become the richest Asian, according to data collated by Hurun Research.

Hammered by a fall in share prices, Ambani’s wealth had fallen to $83 billion as of January 8 from $88 billion posted in September last year, pushing him down to the ninth position from eighth in December.

Ambani, who was ranked the ninth richest man in the global rich list for two consecutive years, 2019 and 2018, had even moved up to fourth place in August 2020.

Riding on the BSE’s surge and a SEBI approval for a deal with Kishore Biyani-led Future Group, RIL’s share price moved up 2.09 per cent to close at ₹2,097.85 on Thursday. Earlier on September 16, 2020, the stock had breached the 52-week high of ₹2,368.80, while the 52-week low of ₹867.82 was recorded on March 23, 2020.

“The quick turnaround of the Indian stock market post lock-down indicates that Indian wealth creators have preserved and beaten the Covid-19 impact. For instance, an investment, at the right price, in the companies founded by top 100 in IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List would have registered almost 50 per cent year-on-year returns,” Hurun India Managing Director and Chief Researcher Anas Rahman Junaid said.

Global Top 10

Tesla CEO and founder Elon Musk topped the charts with a wealth of $197 billion, followed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos with a wealth of $191 billion, while Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates with a networth of $128 billion came in third.

Louis Vuitton SE group head Bernard Arnault ($115 billion), Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg ($106 billion), Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett ($90 billion), former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer ($83 billion), and Google co-founders Larry Page ($83 billion) and Sergey Bin ($83 billion) are the others in the list.