Ambani has added $4 billion to his fortune this year as Reliance doubled its petrochemicals capacity and investors cheered the success of his disruptive telecom upstart Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Then earlier this month, the tycoon unveiled plans to leverage his 215 million telecom subscribers to expand his e-commerce offerings, taking on the likes of Amazon.com Inc. and Walmart Inc. Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s Ma has lost $1.4 billion in 2018.<doc-sep>Accept the updated privacy & cookie policy Dear user, ET Telecom privacy and cookie policy has been updated to align with the new data regulations in European Union. Please review and accept these changes below to continue using the website. You can see our privacy policy & our cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure the best experience for you on our website. If you choose to ignore this message, we'll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on ET Telecom.<doc-sep>New Delhi: Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani toppled Alibaba Group’s Jack Ma on Friday to become the richest individual in Asia, according to a report by Bloomberg. The chairman of India's refining-to-telecoms conglomerate, Ambani was estimated to be worth $44.3 billion on Friday with Reliance Industries Ltd. rising 1.6 percent to a record 1,099.8 rupees, said the report. Ma’s total net worth was at $44 billion, according to the report at the close of trade in US on Thursday. Alibaba is listed in the US. Ambani has added $4 billion to his wealth in 2018. RIL’s market valuation on Friday surged past Rs 7 lakh crore mark in the morning trade, making it the second company after TCS to achieve this milestone. The company’s market capitalisation (m-cap) rose to Rs 7,01,404 crore (over $102 billion) during the early trade on BSE. The m-cap has been calculated at the stock's 52-week high price of Rs 1,107.25. Earlier this month, Ambani launched advanced fiber-based broadband connectivity service called JioGigaFibre and JioGigaTV, a set-top box with ability to play videos at 4k resolution. "As we kick off our Golden Decade with a flourish, we remind ourselves of Reliance’s unwavering commitment towards India’s rise. May the God Almighty bless us in our endeavour," Ambani had said at the conglomerate’s Annual General Meeting (AGM). (Disclaimer: News18.com is part of Network18 Media & Investment Limited which is owned by Reliance Industries Limited)<doc-sep>Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries has broken three records in the past two days -- his company initially entered the $100-billion market cap club, then it breached the Rs 7-lakh crore market valuation, and now India's richest man has replaced Chinese giant Alibaba Group's founder Jack Ma to become Asia's richest person. As RIL stock surged to a record high of Rs 1,101 after touching an all-time high of 1,106.65 during the day on Friday, the net worth of Mukesh Ambani -- who holds 44.5 per cent stake in the company -- also jumped to $44.3 billion. According to BloombergQuint, Ma's wealth stood at $44 billion at the close of trade on Thursday in the US, where the company is listed. The report suggests while Mukesh Ambani has gained fortune worth $4 billion this year alone, Jack Ma lost around $1.4 billion. RIL crossed the m-cap of Rs 7, 01, 404 crore (over $102 billion) on Bombay Stock Exchange on Friday, becoming the second company in India to achieve this feat after TCS. Before this, RIL had crossed the magical $100-billion valuation mark in 2007 when the rupee was valued at 39.5 against the dollar. This is not the first time Ambani has outclassed a Chinese businessman. In December 2017, Mukesh Ambani toppled another Chinese billionaire Hui Ka Yan to become the richest man in Asia. Though the energy and petrochemicals magnate was ranked 14th among the world's Real Time Billionaires' list last year, he slipped to the 19th spot with $40.1 billion in the latest Forbes rich list in March. A rapid rise in Mukesh Ambani's net worth has been due to his $51 billion (revenues) oil-and-gas-conglomerate, Reliance Industries. Apart from doubling its petrochemical capacity, the company this month said it plans to grab a bigger piece of country's fast-growing e-commerce sector, posing a major threat to the already established Amazon and the newly formed Walmart-Flipkart combine. At Reliance Industries' 41st AGM on July 6, Mukesh Ambani said his company wants to synergise Reliance Retail, which has a widespread network of physical stores across India, with the strength of Reliance Jio's digital infrastructure, an upstart company that has achieved a phenomenal growth since its launch in 2016. "As Reliance transitions to become a technology platform company, we see our biggest growth opportunity in creating a hybrid, online-to-offline new commerce platform," Ambani said at the shareholders' meeting. Jio has already grabbed over 15 per cent market share as of April due to its expansion in rural areas where it added over 96 lakh subscribers in April alone. After disrupting the telecom market, his company, which is also the world's largest producer of polyester fibre, is now aiming to launch another blitzkrieg with its plan to connect 50 million homes with its high-speed optic fibre network, under which it has already invested Rs 250,000 crore for creating digital infrastructure. Meanwhile, the Alibaba Group Holding stock is down nearly 10 per cent from its 52-week high of $211.7 in mid-June. Currently, it stands at $190 on the New York Stock Exchange. The decline in stock has led to falling in the Chinese e-commerce giant's market capitalisation.<doc-sep>
Mukesh Ambani topples Alibaba founder Jack Ma to become Asiaâ€™s richest person With Reliance Industries trading up by 1.6%, Ambaniâ€™s net worth stood at $44.3 billion as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Atom Wealth Chairman of Indiaâ€™s oil-to-telecom major Mukesh Ambani has overtaken Alibaba Groupâ€™s founder Jack Ma to become the richest person in Asia. A day after Reliance Industriesâ€™ stock entered the $100 billion market-capitalisation club, the stock went on to rally to breach the 7 lakh-crore market valuation on Friday. With Reliance Industries trading up by 1.6%, Ambaniâ€™s net worth stood at $44.3 billion as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Meanwhile, Jack Maâ€™s wealth was at $44 billion. Alibaba Group Holdingâ€™s Ma has lost $1.4 billion in 2018, as per the report. As per a Bloomberg report, Ambani added $4 billion to his fortune this year thanks to its petrochemical capacity doubling. In addition, investors have also lauded the success of his disruptive telecom venture Reliance Jio. Moreover, Ambani recently also unveiled his plans on entering the ecommerce space by leveraging the 200+ million telecom subscribers that the company has amassed. After taking on incumbents such as Idea, Airtel and Vodafone in the telecom space, Ambani now wants to take on Amazon.com, Walmart, Paytm and the likes. Ambani took over Reliance Industries from his father Dhirubhai Ambani and has played an important role in the company foraying into refining and petrochemicals in the 1990s and telecom and retail in the 2000s. However, the telecom, asset management, entertainment, power businesses went to younger brother Anil Ambani after both the brothers split. However, for investors, the biggest boost came from Reliance Industriesâ€™ and Ambaniâ€™s launch of Reliance Jio. Seen as a disruptive player in the space, with free calls and cheap data, Jio has been seeing immense success and has been instrumental in the shares of the company soaring up. Jio also announced the launch of fiber-based broadband service across 1,100 cities, which will be rolled out in August taking on broadband players as well. Ambani now plans on integrating his consumer business with Telecom and media, something he announced during the companyâ€™s AGM last week.