Mukesh Ambani Back on Top as Asia's Richest Man After Facebook-Reliance Jio Deal, Pushes Jack Ma on Second Spot
Reliance Group Chairman Mukesh Ambani is again Asia's richest man after social media giant Facebook decided to buy 9.99 percent stake in Reliance Jio for Rs 43,574 crore.
New Delhi, April 23: Reliance Group Chairman Mukesh Ambani is again Asia's richest man after social media giant Facebook decided to buy 9.99 percent stake in Reliance Jio for Rs 43,574 crore. After Reliance revealed Facebook's mega-investment plan in Reliance Jio on Wednesday, Mukesh Ambani's fortune rose about $4.7 billion to $49.2 billion. With this, Alibaba's Jack Ma lost the title of Asia's richest man to Ambani.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the surge in Ambani's fortune put him $3.2 billion ahead of Jack Ma. Ambani had lost the title of Asia's richest man to Ma in March after 30 percent overnight fall in crude oil prices. Reliance Industries registered the biggest fall in over 10 years as it fell to Rs 1,094.95 per share, costing Ambani $5.8 billion. He saw his wealth decline by USD 19 billion in the February-March period, taking his global ranking down eight places to 17th.
Facebook is pouring in Rs 43,574 crore for a 9.99 per cent stake in Reliance Jio Platforms, the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology company anywhere in the world and the largest FDI in the Indian tech sector, according to an RIL statement on Wednesday. "At the core of our partnership is the commitment that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, and I share for the all-around digital transformation of India," Ambani said in a video. Mukesh Ambani in Talks With Times Group to Sell News Assets, Says Report; Reliance Denies It.
Concurrent with the investment, Jio Platforms, Reliance Retail and WhatsApp have also entered into a commercial partnership agreement to further accelerate Reliance Retail's New Commerce business on the JioMart platform using WhatsApp and to support small businesses on WhatsApp.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 23, 2020 10:43 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).