Amritsar, NFAPost: India’s wealthiest tycoon and chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd. Mukesh Ambani has now surpassed Warren Buffett to become the eighth richest person in the world.
As of today, Ambani’s net worth stands at $68.3 billion, higher than Buffett’s $67.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which started in 2012.
Shares of Ambani’s conglomerate in India have more than doubled recently after the digital unit got more than $15 billion in investments from companies including Facebook Inc., and Silver Lake.
BP Plc also paid $1 billion for a stake in Reliance’s fuel-retail business this week.
Owing to Ambani’s deals, India has emerged as a hot-spot for mergers and acquisitions this year, accounting for more than 12% of those announced in Asia Pacific — the highest ratio since at least 1998.
Last month, Ambani had become the only Asian tycoon in the club of the world’s top 10 richest people last month.
While Ambani’s worth jumped, Buffett’s fortune dropped this week as he gave away $2.9 billion to charity.
Buffett also known as the Oracle of Omaha has slipped down the rankings after donating more than $37 billion of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock since 2006.
