Reliance Industries MD Mukesh Ambani is no longer Asia’s richest man after he lost $5.6 Bn on the back of a severe decline in RIL’s share price.
New Delhi| The loss, intensified by rising fears that the spread of the novel coronavirus will thrust the world into a recession, erased $5.8 billion from the net worth of Mukesh Ambani on Monday and pushed him to No. 2 on the list of Asia’s richest people, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Ma, the Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. founder who relinquished the No. 1 ranking in mid-2018, is back on top with a $44.5 billion fortune, about $2.6 billion more than Ambani.
Oil plunged the most in 29 years on Monday as Saudi Arabia and Russia vowed to pump more in a struggle for market share. The slump comes just as the coronavirus is spurring the first decline in demand in more than a decade.
That raises questions about whether Ambani’s flagship Reliance Industries Ltd. will be able to cut net debt to zero by early 2021, as he has pledged. The plan hinges on a proposal to sell a stake in the group’s oil and petrochemicals division to Saudi Arabian Oil Co., the world’s biggest crude producer.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Jack Ma, the co-founder of Alibaba Group and the richest person in China is now back to the top with a $44.5 billion fortune while Mukesh Ambani stands at 2nd with $42.2 billion.
Also Read: Business Tit-Bits| What are the real figures Mr. Ambani?
Ambani’s losses stemmed from a 31 per cent decline in crude oil prices as Saudi Arabia started a price war with Russia.
Last week, after Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Ambani was the second-biggest hit, Forbes reported, as global markets continued to fall due to coronavirus fears.
With oil prices and global stocks collapsed in 29 years on Monday, Ambani became poorer by over Rs 41, 700 crores as shares of Reliance Industries plunged 13 per cent.
Ambani, 62, may soon bounce back from the setback, said Harish H.V., managing partner at ECube Investment Advisors in Bengaluru.
“The game isn’t over,” he said. “Ambani has successfully built a robust business model which would keep him in the game. Moreover, his telecom business will start yielding results in the coming years.”
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