Business / Mukesh Ambani gained ₹90 crore every hour since lockdown: Hurun

Mumbai: Mukesh Ambani gained Rs 90 crore per hour since the coronavirus lockdown in March, thus retaining his position as the richest Indian for the ninth consecutive year on the IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020.

Mukesh Ambani, who surged past Silicon Valley tech titan Elon Musk and Alphabet co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page to become the world's fourth-richest person, has earned ₹90 crore every hour since the March lockdown this year, according to IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020.

Mukesh Ambani’s personal wealth rose by ₹2,77,700 crore to ₹6,58,400 crore with the Reliance Industries MD and chairman retaining the richest Indian title for the ninth consecutive year, IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 mentioned.

Ambani, who is the only Indian in the world’s top 5 richest persons, amassed Rs 2,77,700 crore through a series of fund-raising and strategic investment from Facebook, Google, Silver Lake among others into Jio and Reliance Retail, taking his personal wealth to Rs 6,58,400 crore.

The chairman and the MD at the oil-to-telecom major Reliance Industries saw his total wealth surging 73% in last 1 year, IIFL Wealth Hurun India Rich List 2020 said.

Ambani's valuation improved by 85%

At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, Mukesh Ambani’s wealth dropped by 28% to ₹3,50,000 crore and then backed by a series of fund raising and strategic investment from Facebook, Google, Silver Lake among others into Jio and Reliance Retail, his valuation improved by 85% in just a period of four months.

Despite the ongoing Covid-19 lockdown, the Reliance’s market cap crossed ₹10 lakh crore and registered a 73% increase in Mukesh Ambani’s wealth.

Meanhwile, the scorching rally in Reliance Industries Ltd.’s shares is becoming a problem for India’s equity mutual funds. The stock has more than doubled from a March low, thanks to Ambani’s fundraising blitz. The run up has increased the firm’s weighting in the S&P BSE Sensex to 17.4%, from 11% at the end of 2019.

The IIFL Hurun India list names the richest individuals in the country having a wealth of Rs 1,000 crore or more. This year, the list names 828 Indians, where 627 increased their wealth and 162 are new entrants. Top 100 individuals in the list account for nearly 64 per cent wealth of the list.

London-based Hinduja brothers, with a joint wealth of Rs 1,43,700 crore, bagged the second spot. HCL founder Shiv Nadar with Rs 1,41,700 crore is ranked third, followed by Adani’s Group’s Gautam Adani at fourth and Wipro’s Azim Premji at fifth spot.

Avenue Supermarts founder Radhakishan Damani made his debut to the top 10, positioned at the seventh place.

The cumulative value of the 828 individuals on the list stood at $821 billion (Rs 60,59,500 crore), an increase of $140 billion (Rs 10,29,400 cr) over the 2019 count.

Backed by stellar IPO, Happiest Minds founder Ashok Soota, 77, debuted on the list with a wealth of Rs 3,700 crore.

Nearly 5 per cent of the list (40 individuals) are women; and 10 of them are self-made. Smitha V Crishna, third-generation heir of the Godrej Empire, ranked as the richest woman in the list followed by Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw. Crishna’s personal wealth stood at Rs 32,400 crore while Shaw’s at Rs 31,600 crore.