Mukesh Ambani overtakes ByteDance’s Zhang Yiming, becomes Asia’s richest person

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, Nov 3, 2026: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani has overtaken ByteDance co-founder Zhang Yiming to become Asia’s richest person.

Ambani’s net worth surged 10.5 percent to $88.8 billion, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires list on Tuesday. Globally, Ambani is ranked 22nd, ahead of Yiming, who is now ranked 25th with an estimated net worth of $84 billion. Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani is ranked 26th with a net worth of $80.1 billion.

Ambani’s wealth rose after Reliance Industries shares surged nearly 12 percent on Monday, adding more than $19 billion to the company’s market value.

The gains came after the company reported its strongest-ever quarterly financial performance for the July-September quarter, with record revenue, EBITDA and net profit, supported by robust growth in its oil-to-chemicals (O2C) business, digital services and retail operations.

Consolidated revenue surged 28 percent year-on-year to a record Rs 3.62 lakh crore, while EBITDA rose 24 percent to Rs 62,409 crore. Net profit jumped 34 percent to Rs 29,550 crore, also a quarterly record.

The O2C business delivered its strongest-ever quarterly performance, with revenue rising 44.2 percent year-on-year to Rs 2.32 lakh crore and EBITDA surging 67.9 percent to Rs 25,203 crore. Transportation fuel cracks, a measure of refining margins, increased 3 to 3.7 times from a year earlier, reaching historic highs during the quarter.

Following the earnings announcement, an analyst at Avendus Spark upgraded the stock’s rating from ’Reduce’ to ’Add’. Bloomberg reported that this meant Reliance Industries had no ’Hold’ or ’Sell’ recommendations for the first time since 2017.

Reliance Industries’ rally came after Jio Platforms, a subsidiary controlled by Ambani, surged 27% on its trading debut on the National Stock Exchange in Mumbai on October 28.

Founded in 1957 by Mukesh Ambani’s father, Dhirubhai, the company has India’s highest market capitalisation, at over Rs 17.54 lakh crore. Jio Platforms, its digital services and telecommunications arm, is India’s largest mobile carrier, with more than 533 million subscribers as of June.

Jio Platforms’ initial public offering was the largest in India’s history, raising $3.2 billion at a valuation of approximately $106 billion. Reliance Industries holds around a 66% stake in the company, which was listed on October 28.

Reliance Industries ranked 55th globally on Forbes’ Global 2000 list of the world’s largest public companies in 2026. It reported sales of $119.7 billion, assets worth $229.6 billion and profits of $9.1 billion.