Mukesh Ambani loses $2.5B after Reliance AGM; no longer sixth richest person
Mukesh Ambani's wealth dropped to $69 billion following the Reliance AGM. He also slipped a few places on the world's richest list.
Despite a blockbuster 43rd AGM on Wednesday, Reliance Industries' stock fell four percent on the BSE, leading to a decline of $2.57 billion in Mukesh Ambani's wealth.
As a result, he's no longer the world's sixth-richest person. Ambani has dropped to the 10th position on the global billionaires' list, with his net worth now at $69 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani
Even a slew of big-ticket announcements, including Google's $4.5 billion investment in Jio Platforms, from Reliance failed to enthuse investors, leading to a huge sell-off. The company witnessed its second-worst post-AGM stock decline in 19 years.
Analysts reckon that the dearth of clarity on RIL's much-anticipated Saudi Aramco deal could have triggered the sell-off. RIL investors lost nearly Rs 1.26 lakh crore during the day.
"The deal with Saudi Aramco hasn't progressed per original timeline due to unforeseen situation in energy market and COVID-19 situation. We value our two-decade relationship with Aramco and are committed to a long-term partnership," Ambani said.
Prior to the AGM, Reliance stock had gained 16.5 percent over one month.
Source: Bloomberg Billionaires Index
The Reliance Chairman has added over $10 billion to his net worth this year riding on a $20 billion fund infusion in Jio Platforms, and RIL's Rs 53,100 crore rights issue.
Earlier this week, he went past Tesla Founder Elon Musk and Google Co-founder Larry Page as his wealth climbed to $72.4 billion. Prior to this, Ambani had also surpassed Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett following RIL's deal with fuel retailer BP.
Ambani has been one of the biggest wealth gainers in the pandemic along with Amazon Founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Reliance's 43rd AGM was dominated by announcements related to Jio, including the launch of JioTV+ and Jio Glass; the potential roadmap for Jio 5G and JioMart; and the company's collaborative efforts with domestic startups and SMBs.
It was also RIL's first-ever virtual AGM held on its newly launched HD video conferencing platform JioMeet clocking over three lakh live viewers.
Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta