Ground Report

Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani on Monday became the richest person in the world, surpassing American software king Bill Gates, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim Helu and famous investment guru Warren Buffett, courtesy the strong run in the stock market. This was initiated by a strong share price tally on in his three group company, India’s most valued firm Reliance Industries- Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Ltd. The net assets of Mukesh Ambani rose to $63.2 billion (Rs 2,49,108 crore). In comparison, the net assets of both Gates and Slim is estimated to be slightly lower at around $62.29 billion each, with Slim leading among the two by a narrow margin. Warren Buffett, earlier the third richest in the world, also fell one position below with net assets worth of about $56 billion. Ambani’s wealth of about Rs 2,49,000 crore includes about Rs 2,10,000 crore from RIL (50.98 per cent stake), Rs 37,500 crore from RPL (37.5 per cent) and Rs 2,100 crore from RIIL (46.23 per cent). Slim’s wealth has been projected on the basis of his stake in companies like America Movil (30 per cent), Carso Global (82 per cent), Grupo Carso (75 per cent), Inbursa (67 per cent), IDEAL (30 per cent) and Saks Inc (10 per cent).