Mukesh Ambani Suffers Major Loss, Sets Unwanted Record as Year Begins

New Delhi: The year has started on a rocky note for the world’s wealthiest. Among the top 10 billionaires globally, six have seen a decline in their net worth, with Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani suffering the biggest loss. In contrast, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has emerged as the biggest gainer so far this year.

Ambani’s Net Worth Takes a Hit

Shares of India’s most valuable company, Reliance Industries, continued to slide on Thursday, causing Mukesh Ambani’s net worth to fall by $2.59 billion to $101 billion. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Ambani has lost $6.54 billion this year, making him the biggest wealth-loser among the global elite.

Ambani ranks 18th globally and first in Asia. If Reliance shares continue their decline, he could even fall out of the coveted $100 billion club.

Following Ambani, Oracle founder Larry Ellison has lost $5.53 billion, standing at $242 billion and fifth globally. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has seen a decline of $4.76 billion, bringing his net worth to $229 billion and sixth globally. Other notable losses include French businessman Bernard Arnault ($4.42 billion) and Michael Dell ($4.09 billion).

Jeff Bezos and Other Gainers

On the positive side, Jeff Bezos has seen a gain of $13.9 billion, raising his net worth to $267 billion and placing him 13th globally. Elon Musk remains at the top with $632 billion, growing by $12.7 billion this year. Other gainers include Larry Page ($9.78 billion) and Sergey Brin ($9.05 billion).

Overall, six out of the top 10 billionaires have experienced a decline in net worth this year.

Meanwhile, Gautam Adani, chairman of the Adani Group, lost $2.02 billion on Thursday, bringing his net worth to $83.4 billion. He ranks 21st globally and second in Asia. Among other Indian billionaires, HCL’s Shiv Nadar ($38 billion) is 60th, Shapoor Mistry ($35.2 billion) 62nd, Lakshmi Mittal ($31.7 billion) 71st, Savitri Jindal ($31.6 billion) 73rd, Sunil Mittal ($29.2 billion) 80th, Azim Premji ($27.3 billion) 90th, and Dilip Sanghvi ($26 billion) 100th globally.