Reliance's petroleum deal makes Mukesh Ambani richer than Warren Buffett
Mukesh Ambani has added nearly $10 billion to his wealth this year riding on a series of investments in Reliance-owned companies.
Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has been one of the biggest wealth gainers in 2020. Now, he's surpassed Berkshire Hathaway Chairman Warren Buffett in the top 10 billionaires' club.
Ambani's wealth increased to $68.3 billion after Reliance's $1 billion deal with petroleum major BP. He went past Buffett, whose net worth stands at $67.9 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Ambani has added $9.64 billion to his wealth this year.
Reliance Chairman Mulesh Ambani
While Ambani's position remains unchanged at eighth, Buffett has dropped to ninth after shedding $21.4 billion this year owing to global stock market crashes and contributions to charity.
The Reliance chairman, on the other hand, has had an eventful 2020, entering the top 10 billionaire’s club in June, riding on an unprecedented Rs 1.16 lakh crore investment spree in RIL's digital arm, Jio Platforms, and a Rs 53,000-crore rights issue.
As a result, Reliance stock has gained over 20 percent since the start of the year, pushing Ambani's wealth upward. The company's valuation has also shot up to $92 billion.
Earlier in April, Ambani also went past Alibaba's Jack Ma to regain his position as Asia's richest person shortly after Facebook's $5.7 billion investment in Jio.
"Thanks to Ambani’s deals, India has emerged as a hotspot for M&A this year, accounting for more than 12 percent of those announced in Asia Pacific — the highest ratio since at least 1998," Bloomberg stated.
Meanwhile, the billionaires' list is topped by Amazon's Jeff Bezos ($188 billion), Microsoft's Bill Gates ($115 billion), LVMH's Bernard Arnault ($92.8 billion), and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg ($92.7 billion).
Overall, America’s top five billionaires saw their wealth soar by $101.7 billion since the start of the pandemic. However, given their large fortunes, even minor fluctuations in the market cap of their respective companies can result in major shifts in their wealth.
Since the present difference is just $0.4 billion between Ambani's and Buffett's fortunes, even a single-day's stock movement can reverse the rankings next week.
Edited by Dipti D