New Delhi: Asia’s richest man Mukesh Amban’s wealth grew by an eye-popping Rs 90 crore per hour since “March lockdown”, according to IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020. At a time when all economic activity had come to a screeching halt, Reliance Industries Chairman was busy tending a beeline of investors willing to pour billions of dollars into his conglomerate’s tech play – Jio Platforms.
Since ‘March lockdown’ Ambani’s wealth fortune went up by Rs 2.78 lakh crore to Rs 6.6 lakh crore making Ambani retail his numero uno position on the list for 9th year running.
With a wealth of Rs 6,58,400 crore, the promoter of India’s biggest company by market-capitalisation (m-cap), continues to be the richest man of the country. At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ambani’s wealth dropped by 28% to Rs 3,50,000 crore and then backed by a series of fundraising and strategic investment from Facebook, Google and other marquee investors into Jio and Reliance Retail, his valuation registered a “V-shaped recovery” and increased by 85% in just months. Despite the ongoing pandemic, RIL’s m-cap crossed Rs 10 lakh Cr and registered a 73% increase in Mukesh Ambani’s wealth.
This swing in the billionaire’s wealth is primarily due to fluctuations in the stock market.
“Ambani’s wealth is now bigger than the combined wealth of the next 5 in the list”, said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and Chief Researcher, Hurun India.
Next on the list are the Hinduja brothers on the second spot with a wealth of Rs 1.43 lakh crore. They saw their valuation decline by 23% due to a lackluster performance of their flagship companies such as IndusInd Bank, Gulf Oil and GOCL Corporation Limited whose share price came down by 54%, 12% and 19% respectively. The brothers are based between London, Geneva and Mumbai.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) on Wednesday (September 30) announced another deal in the retail business with General Atlantic investing Rs 3,675 crore for 0.84% equity stake in Reliance Retail Ventures Limited (RRVL). This is the third transaction in Reliance Retail in less than a month, and this marks the second investment by General Atlantic in a subsidiary of RIL, following a Rs 6,598.38 crore investment in Jio Platforms announced earlier this year.
The investment values Reliance Retail at a pre-money equity value of Rs 4.28 lakh crore, slightly higher than the previous two deals done at a valuation of Rs 4.21 lakh crore. Earlier this month, US-based private equity firms Silver Lake and KKR had announced that they would invest Rs 7,500 crore and Rs 5,500 crore, respectively in Reliance Retail. RRVL posted a consolidated turnover of Rs 162,936 crore and a net profit of Rs 5,448 crore for the year ended March 31, 2020.
Reliance Retail operates India’s largest fastest-growing and most profitable retail business serving close to 640 million footfalls across its nearly 12,000 stores nationwide. Reliance Retail’s vision is to galvanize the Indian retail sector through an inclusive strategy serving millions of customers by empowering millions of farmers and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and working closely with global and domestic companies as a preferred partner, to deliver immense benefits to Indian society, while protecting and generating employment for millions of Indians, the oil-to-retail conglomerate said in a statement.
“I am pleased to extend our relationship with General Atlantic as we work towards empowering both merchants and consumers alike, and ultimately transforming Indian Retail. Like Reliance Retail, General Atlantic believes in the fundamental ability of digital enablement to drive progress, growth, and inclusion across India and the world,” said Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director of RIL.
