Mukesh Ambani becomes fourth richest person on Earth

Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, has surpassed the richest man in Europe, Bernard Arnault to become the fourth wealthiest person in the world. As per Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani presently has a net worth of $80.6 billion, after adding $22 billion over the past year. Above him on the list now are the three members of 'centibillionaire club' - Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

Slump in oil demand due to COVID-19 lockdowns has taken a toll on Reliance Industries' petrochemical business. However, investments from the likes of Facebook, Google and Intel into its digital arm have propelled the conglomerate's shares to twice their value from a low in March. In July, Reliance Industries became the first Indian company to reach Rs 13 lakh crore market cap.

ALSO READ: Reliance Industries ranked second biggest brand globally after Apple

Ambani has already surpassed several other billionaires in the recent week, including Elon Musk, Alphabet Inc co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and investor and business tycoon Warren Buffet.

Reliance Industries' Jio Platforms has received several big-ticket investments amounting to Rs 1.52 lakh crore. The latest in the list was Google's Rs 33,737 crore investment for 7.73 per cent stake in the digital platform. Meanwhile, reports suggest that Amazon.com Inc is in talks to buy 9.9 per cent stake in Reliance Retail.

On the other hand, Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, posted the biggest decline in personal wealth among world's 500 richest people. His net value declined $25.1 billion to $80.2 billi

2020-08-08 ALSO READ: RIL share hits all-time high; market cap nears Rs 14 lakh crore mark