Mukesh Ambani drops 12 places in Forbes rich list after Coronacrash — is now the 21st richest man in the world

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Mukesh Ambani drops 12 places in Forbes rich list after Coronacrash —  is now the 21st richest man in the world
  • The coronavirus scare has wiped out $13.2 billion off Ambani’s wealth since January.
  • Mukesh Ambani is now the 21st richest person in the world.
  • He also lost the title of Asia’s richest man to Alibaba founder and Chinese billionaire Jack Ma who is worth $38.8 billion.

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India’s richest man lost his place amongst the top 10 richest billionaires in the world as Covid-19 wiped off Indian stock markets. The stock meltdown made a $13.2 billion hole in Mukesh Ambani’s personal wealth. His net worth dropped to $36.8 billion from $50 billion earlier this year.

As a result, he is no longer the tenth richest man in the world or even Asia’s richest man. He lost this title of Asia’s richest man to Alibaba founder and Chinese billionaire Jack Ma who is worth $38.8 billion, according to Forbes.

In fact, Ambani dropped eleven places in the rich list becoming the 21st richest man in the world. But he is still the richest man in the country, by a wide margin.

The Ambanis however took advantage of the immense meltdown in stock prices to increase stake in the company, Reliance Industries. His net worth saw a marginal increase after the Ambani family — Mukesh and Nita Ambani and their three children — raised stake.

The March meltdown

Mukesh Ambani drops 12 places in Forbes rich list after Coronacrash —  is now the 21st richest man in the world

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RIL’s shares — which have been trading above ₹1000 a piece — saw a 39% decline in March during the massive sell off triggered by Coronavirus. However, the share price regained the market after the company board, an oil-to-telecom-to-retail conglomerate with a market cap of $90 billion — approved a proposal to raise non-convertible debentures worth ₹25,000 crore.

Most of RIL’s share price erosion took place in the last two months, when crude prices turned volatile after Saudi Arabia and Russia engaged in a price war. His oil refining business is directly linked to the price of crude oil and retail and telecom are also affected due to the lockdown. Fewer people are walking into stores and telecom users are unable to recharge as much, affecting both the industries in general.

Ambani was also supposed to close the $15 billion Saudi Aramco deal by March 31 this year. But with a lockdown in place, investors are wary of the deal completion, which is one of the many reasons his stock saw a bull run last year.

(The story was corrected on April 8. An earlier version of the story said he was tenth richest in 2019)

See also: Mukesh Ambani has lost at least $17 billion in 26 days as Coronavirus fears dent RIL shares
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