Following Facebook’s $5.7 billion investment in Mukesh Ambani led Reliance Jio, he has once again become Asia’s richest person.
Ambani’s net worth rose by about $4.7 billion to $49.2 billion after the deal with Mark Zuckerberg’s Facebook Inc.
Reportedly, the surge in Ambani’s fortune puts him $3.2 billion ahead of China’s Jack Ma.
Facebook Inc. on Wednesday had announced that it will acquire 9.99% stakes in Reliance’s Jio Platform Limited, making it the largest minority shareholder of the company.
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The deal for $5.7 billion or Rs 43,574 crores will boost the social media giant’s digital presence in India which is considered to be its second-largest market after China.
“At the core of our partnership is the commitment that Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, and I share for the all-around digital transformation of India,” Ambani said in a video posted on Jio’s Facebook page.
“WhatsApp, in particular, has entered our people’s daily vocabulary in all the 23 official languages of India,” he added.
Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook CEO said: “There’s a lot going on in the world right now, but I wanted to share an update on our work in India. Facebook is teaming up with Jio Platforms — we’re making a financial investment, and more than that, we’re committing to work together on some major projects that will open up commerce opportunities for people across India.”
“India is home to the largest communities on Facebook and WhatsApp, and a lot of talented entrepreneurs. The country is in the middle of a major digital transformation and organizations like Jio have played a big part in getting hundreds of millions of Indian people and small businesses online,” he added.
Reliance is hoping to get some technical expertise from Facebook. Most importantly, it hopes to reduce its debt burden by March 2021.