Mukesh Ambani Becomes Asia's Richest Again On Facebook Deal

On Wednesday, after Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) announced that it has signed a binding agreement for Facebook to buy 9.9 percent stake in Jio Platforms Limited, shares of the conglomerate rose by 11 percent in intraday and ended 9.83 percent higher at Rs 1,359 apiece.

The surge in share prices caused Chairman and MD, Mukesh Ambani's wealth to rise by $4.7 billion in a day to $49.2 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaire's index. The daily index that also showed that as on Wednesday, Ambani is about $3.2 billion ahead of Jack Ma, the founder of Chinese tech giant Alibaba, making him the richest Asian at the moment.

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These ranking updates are made on Bloomberg's Billionaire Index after the close of a trading day in the US.

Facebook's deal to invest $5.7 billion in Reliance Jio is the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology company anywhere in the world, RIL said in its exchange filing.

The deal will benefit both companies. Shares of Facebook gained 7 percent on Wednesday on NASDAQ on its strategic move to increase presence and grow in a country where it already has the highest user base anywhere in the world. With Jio's rapid expansion as a household name and WhatsApp's existing hold in the social media space in India, Reliance Retail's project-the JioMart is set to expand.

Facebook and Reliance Retail will work together to enable consumers to access the nearest Kirana shops who can provide products and services to their homes by transacting with JioMart using WhatsApp.

Ambani's net worth on the Bloomberg Billionaire's index had declined by $14 billion in 2020 amid the stock market crash due to COVID-19 related concerns. It was the biggest fall in dollar terms for an Asian, a Bloomberg report said.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s Ma, who has been actively making donations of medical supplies and masks around the world through his philanthropic foundation, had lost almost $1 billion till Tuesday.