Mukesh Ambani joins Bezos, Musk in $100 billion club

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd., has entered the $100 billion wealth club with Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk for company, as the conglomerate’s stocks skyrocketed on Friday (October 8).

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Mukesh Ambani’s wealth stands at $100.6 billion, a $23.8 billion increase this year.

Starting in 2005, Mukesh Ambani has been on a mission to transform his father’s oil-refining and petrochemicals businesses into a retail, technology and e-commerce giant. His telecommunications unit, which started in 2016, has been a dominant player in the Indian market.

Ambani’s retail and technology ventures added $27 billion in the previous year after he sold stakes to investors like Facebook Inc and Google.

In line with PM Narendra Modi’s motive of turning India into a manufacturing hub for clean fuel, Ambani had earlier said that his company would seek the production of affordable green hydrogen.

Also read: India 3rd largest home of billionaires, Mukesh Ambani richest Asian: Forbes

Acknowledging Ambani’s expertise to create new businesses with emerging technologies, Chakri Lokapriya, CIO of TCG Asset Management Company, Mumbai, said, “Creating businesses of scale at speed brings execution challenges, but he has demonstrated his capabilities.”

Late Dhirubhai Ambani, the father of Mukesh and Anil, had laid the foundation of Reliance Industries in late 1960s. After he died in 2002, Mukesh got control of the oil refining and petrochemicals businesses, and Anil led power generation, financial and telecommunication services. Anil Ambani told a London court in the previous year that his net worth was zero.

This year, Gautam Adani, founder of Adani Group has added $39.5 billion to his wealth, and India’s third-richest man, Azim Premji, added $12.8 billion.