Mukesh Ambani topples Chinese biz tycoon to become richest Asian

Mumbai: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani on Wednesday toppled Chinese businessman Hui Ka Yan to become the richest man in Asia.

The business tycoon ranked 14th on the Forbes Real Time list of billionaires across the globe. Ambani’s Real Time ranking, which based on the value of one’s stock holding and assets on a real time basis, shot up following RIL’s mcap hitting Rs 6 lakh crore-mark.

According to Forbes Real Time Billionaire list, Mukesh Ambani's wealth swelled by USD 223 million to USD 41.8 billion on the back of rise in Reliance Industries Ltd stock prices. The wealth of Hui Ka Yan, the Chairman of China Evergrande Group came down by USD 1.28 billion to USD 40.6 billion.

Ambani’s shot to being the richest in Asia comes days after Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, with a net worth of USD 93.3 billion climbed past Bill Gates to become the world's richest man.

RIL commanded a market capitalisation (m-cap) of Rs 6,03,097.82 crore or about USD 93 billion when the stock market closed on November 1.

The energy giant’s profits have been on a steady high with the energy giant posting a 12.5 per cent increase in profits in the quarter ended September.

In 2016, Reliance kicked off the great Indian tariff war in India's telecom market with the launch of Jio that offers services at rock-bottom prices and calls virtually free of cost. Jio has since then captured 130 million customers, leaving other telcos reeling in losses.

In October, Mukesh Ambani became the richest Indian, for the 10th year in a row on Forbes list.