Mukesh once again becomes wealthiest person in Asia

Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has once again become the wealthiest person in Asia after China’s Zhong Shanshan lost $22 billion this week, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zhong Shanshan’s bottled-water company tanked a record 20 per cent this week, making Mukesh Ambani the richest person in Asia.

With a net worth of about $80 billion, Mukesh Ambani is now richer than Zhong Shanshan, who is worth $76.6 billion. Zhong Shanshan had previously become Asia’s richest person, surpassing Chinese tech titans like Jack Ma.

For the past two years, Mukesh Ambani has lead the ranking of Asia’s richest people. But, Zhong Shanshan grabbed the title of Asia’s richest person from Mukesh Ambani after the listing of his two companies. By early 2021, Zhong Shanshan was the sixth-wealthiest person on Earth.

Over time, Zhong Shanshan’s Nongfu Spring Co. more than tripled to a peak in January, while his Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. surged 3,757 per cent. With a bad week for stock markets, Zhong’s companies recorded plunges.

Mukesh Ambani, on the other hand, has turned his empire and lifted his fortune by selling stakes in Reliance’s digital and retail units to investors including Google and Facebook Inc.

In November 2020, Mukesh Ambani had slipped three positions in the Forbes Real-Time Billionaires list after Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) suffered heavy losses in the stock market.