Mukesh Ambani regains 'richest person in Asia' tag; topples Jack Ma after $5.7 bn Facebook-Jio deal

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) has regained the ‘richest person in Asia’ tag after Facebook’s $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) investment in Jio Platforms on 22 April.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the $4.69 billion spurt in wealth has placed Ambani ahead of China’s Jack Ma.

The deal with Facebook also pushed RIL’s valuation higher to around $4.24 trillion in market capitalisation.

On 22 April, Facebook said it will invest $5.7 billion in Reliance Jio for a 9.9 percent stake in the firm, making it the largest investment for a minority stake by a technology company in the world.

Along with Ambani, Facebook Co-Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s rank also improved his rankings on the Billionaires Index. He vaulted to Number 5 with a networth of $69.7 billion. His wealth increased by $4.22 billion after the deal.

In a video statement, Ambani said he was delighted to welcome Facebook as a long-term partner and said the two companies will together accelerate India’s digital transformation to empower, enable and enrich people.

“At the core of the partnership is the commitment that Mark Zuckerberg and I share for the all-around digital transformation of India and for serving all Indians.”

Giving more details on how the partnership would work, Ambani said in his statement that in the near future, JioMart, Jio’s digital new commerce platform, and WhatsApp will empower nearly 3 crore small Indian kirana shops to digitally transact with every customer in their neighbourhood.

Zuckerberg said: “One focus of our collaboration with Jio will be creating new ways for people and businesses to operate more effectively in the growing digital economy. This investment underscores our commitment to India, and our excitement for the dramatic transformation that Jio has spurred in the country.”

Shares of Reliance Industries on Wednesday jumped over 10 percent after Facebook announced an investment of $5.7 billion (Rs 43,574 crore) to buy a 10 percent stake in Jio Platforms.

The scrip of the country’s most valued firm by market cap advanced 10.30 percent to close at Rs 1,363.35 on the BSE. During the day, it surged 12 percent to Rs 1,384.70.

On the NSE, shares of the company zoomed 9.83 percent to close at Rs 1,359.

It was the top gainer on both the 30-share BSE Sensex and NSE Nifty-50.

In November 2019, RIL became the first Indian company to hit a market capitalisation of Rs 10 lakh crore.

(Disclaimer: Reliance Industries Ltd. is the sole beneficiary of Independent Media Trust which controls Network18 Media & Investments Ltd which publishes Firstpost)