Mukesh Ambani is again richest Asian
China’s Zhong loses spot after $22b loss
India’s Mukesh Ambani is back to being the wealthiest person in Asia. Despite a brutal week for markets, his Reliance Industries Ltd. was relatively unscathed as it said it would spin off its oil-tochemicals business into an independent unit. With a net worth of about $80 billion, Ambani is again richer than Zhong Shanshan, whose bottled-water company tanked a record 20 per cent this week.
The Chinese tycoon is worth $76.6 billion, down more than $22 billion from a peak just last week, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Ambani spent most of the past two years leading the ranking of Asia’s richest people, taking over from Alibaba Group Holding Ltd’s Jack Ma.
Title grab
Then the listing of two companies put Zhong on the map: He grabbed the title from Ambani at the end of December and by early 2021 was the sixthwealthiest person on Earth, surpassing Warren Buffett.
Zhong’s Nongfu Spring Co. more than tripled from its initial public offering to a peak in January as investors flocked to consumer
shares, while his vaccine maker, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co., surged as much as 3,757 per cent.
But the rally faded as the Hong Kong and Chinese stock markets were among the world’s biggest decliners this week. Nongfu shares have erased their gains for the year, while Wantai’s posted a record monthly plunge.
Ambani has focused on pivoting his empire to tech and e-commerce, moving away from energy. Last year, he sold stakes in Reliance’s digital and retail units worth $27 billion to investors including Google and Facebook Inc., lifting his fortune by $18 billion.
The spin off announced this week of the oil-tochemicals unit will help the tycoon bring in more investors and expedite a proposed stake sale to Saudi Arabian Oil Co.