Mukesh Ambani is poised to overtake Alibaba Group founder Jack Ma to become Asia’s richest person as he positions Reliance Industries to disrupt the e-commerce space in India.
The chairman of India’s refining-to-telecoms conglomerate, Ambani was estimated to be worth $44.3bn on Friday with Reliance Industries trading 1.7 per cent higher, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The stock fetched Rs1,100.65 as of 12.25 pm in Mumbai and is set for a record. Mr Ma’s wealth stood at $44bn at close of trade on Thursday in the US, where the company is listed.
Mr Ambani has added $4bn to his fortune this year as Reliance doubled its petrochemicals capacity and investors cheered the success of his disruptive telecoms upstart Reliance Jio Infocomm. Then earlier this month, the tycoon unveiled plans to leverage his 215 million telecom subscribers to expand his e-commerce offerings, taking on the likes of Amazon.com and Walmart. Alibaba Group Holding’s Ma has lost $1.4bn in 2018.
“We need to broaden our horizon of expectation with Reliance,” said Nitin Tiwari, a Mumbai-based analyst at Antique Stock Broking. “They are in for something really transformational.”
Mr Ambani, best known for executing large-scale projects, spearheaded construction of the world’s largest refining complex in Jamnagar, owns the most-widespread mobile data network globally and claims to have India’s biggest as well as most-profitable retail firm.
At this month’s annual shareholders’ meeting, Mr Ambani said Reliance saw its “biggest growth opportunity in creating a hybrid, online-to-offline new commerce platform,” involving the group’s Reliance Retail Ltd. and Reliance Jio businesses.
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Read more:
Indian billionaires load up war chest as telecom battle enters final stretch
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The latter will introduce a fibre-based broadband service across 1,100 Indian cities in August in what Ambani said would be the biggest greenfield fixed-line rollout anywhere in the world.
A spokesman for Reliance didn’t immediately reply to an email seeking comment.
Within a week of the announcements, Reliance re-entered the $100 billion club after more than a decade. He used the same venue two years ago to announce his disruptive telecom venture with free offers that eventually forced smaller rivals to quit and the biggest ones to merge.
The billionaire inherited Reliance from his much-storied father Dhirubhai Ambani, who is credited with sparking an equity culture among middle-class Indians and using their savings to build the group’s textile and petrochemical manufacturing units.
Dhirubhai’s death in 2002 left the group in the hands of Mukesh and his younger brother Anil Ambani. The brothers eventually split the company in 2005, as per a family pact brokered by their mother, after years of acrimony.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Test
Director: S Sashikanth
Cast: Nayanthara, Siddharth, Meera Jasmine, R Madhavan
Star rating: 2/5
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 194hp at 5,600rpm
Torque: 275Nm from 2,000-4,000rpm
Transmission: 6-speed auto
Price: from Dh155,000
On sale: now
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The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail
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%3Cul%3E%0A%3Cli%3ECystic%20fibrosis%20is%20a%20genetic%20disorder%20that%20affects%20the%20lungs%2C%20pancreas%20and%20other%20organs.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EIt%20causes%20the%20production%20of%20thick%2C%20sticky%20mucus%20that%20can%20clog%20the%20airways%20and%20lead%20to%20severe%20respiratory%20and%20digestive%20problems.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3EPatients%20with%20the%20condition%20are%20prone%20to%20lung%20infections%20and%20often%20suffer%20from%20chronic%20coughing%2C%20wheezing%20and%20shortness%20of%20breath.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3Cli%3ELife%20expectancy%20for%20sufferers%20of%20cystic%20fibrosis%20is%20now%20around%2050%20years.%3C%2Fli%3E%0A%3C%2Ful%3E%0A
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
Fixtures:
Thursday:
Hatta v Al Jazira, 4.55pm
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Al Dhafra v Al Nasr, 5.05pm
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Ajman v Emirates, 4.55pm
Al Ain v Sharjah, 7.45pm
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
The Old Slave and the Mastiff
Patrick Chamoiseau
Translated from the French and Creole by Linda Coverdale
