India's Mukesh Ambani now richer than ever, even after giving away internet to 100 million people
Even as India’s richest man gave away "unlimited" 4G internet access to more than 100 million subscribers for six months, his personal wealth is far from taking a dent.
Mukesh Ambani, the chairman and managing director of India’s largest industrial house Reliance Industries Limited, added $6 billion to his personal wealth last year, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
With 40 percent stake in Reliance Industries Limited, Ambani is the largest shareholder at the conglomerate.
Reliance Jio began commercial operations in India on Sept. 5. The 4G-only network has been offering tons of free data and access to a plethora of content services for free to all its subscribers.
In a price-sensitive market such as India, Reliance Jio has been a runaway success. Reliance Jio has already found a spot in top five Indian telecom operators with more than 100 million subscribers.
According to a report, the 59-year-old Ambani had spent north of $20 billion in setting up the telecom operator and striking licensing deals for the bouquet of content.
The addition of $6 billion last year has upped Ambani’s net worth to $28.7 billion. Joining him from India is steel mogul Laxmi Nivas Mittal, who added $1.5 billion last year. Pharmaceuticals baron Dilip Shanghvi added $1.9 billion to assume the third richest man in India as of last year.
