The recent official announcement that social media giant Facebook will be investing ₹43,574 crores for a 9.99% stake in Reliance Jio Platforms has now made Mukesh Ambani the richest person in Asia.
Reliance Industries Limited has announced in a statement that US company will afford the stake worth around 10% of Jio Platforms and as a result of this investment, Mukesh Ambani’s fortune hiked to US$ 49 billion, an increase of US$ 4 billion.
This significant move will make Facebook the largest minority shareholder in Jio and the deal is recognised by ‘Reliance Jio’ as the largest foreign direct investment minority stake by a tech company ever.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index has mentioned on 23 April, as of 11:20 am GMT, Mukesh Ambani was US$ 3 billion well ahead of China’s Jack Ma.
China’s Jack Ma is the founder and the former executive chairman of the Alibaba group.
The ranking alters each day after the trading day closes in the United States. On 21st April, the world’s largest oil refinery owner Ambani’s wealth declined by US$ 14 billion as per the Bloomberg ranking.
It is to be noted that Facebook’s overall investment in Jio’s platforms brings its overall valuation at INR 4.62 lakh crore. It announced in a statement that the main focus of the social media giant will be e-commerce. They plan to merge Jio’s small business initiative with Facebook’s popular texting platform WhatsApp.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg mentioned in a Facebook post that the social media giant is teaming up with Jio platforms and are committed to working together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people in India.
Meanwhile, business tycoon Anand Mahindra explained the importance of the deal in a tweet and also revealed that the deal will not only be good for both corporate giants but also the nation.
“Jio’s deal with Facebook is good not just for the two of them. Coming as it does during the virus-crisis, it is a strong signal of India’s economic importance post the crisis. It strengthens hypotheses that the world will pivot to India as a new growth epicentre. Bravo Mukesh!,” Anand Mahindra tweeted.