Mukesh Ambani not world's richest man, says Reliance

NEW DELHI: Reliance Industries moved swiftly on Tuesday to deny a report that company chief Mukesh Ambani has become the world's richest man thanks to a surge in stock market. An agency report putting his wealth at $63.2 billion hailed his rise as another triumph for the nation's booming economy. But Reliance said Ambani was not quite so rich after all, with a net worth of somewhere in the region of $50 billion. The multi-billionaire was listed by Forbes magazine earlier this year in 14th place among the world's richest people with an estimated wealth of $20.1 billion, way behind Microsoft's Bill Gates on $56 billion. The breakneck rise in benchmark Sensex index, which rocketed to 20,000 points on Monday, after gaining nearly 4,000 points in six weeks, meant 49-year-old Ambani was now worth 63.2 billion. "They are completely wrong. They have done double calculations," Reliance spokesman Tushar Pania said, explaining that Ambani, 49, does not have a direct share in Reliance Petroleum. Ambani's wealth was calculated on the strength of his holdings in Reliance Industries and group companies Reliance Petroleum and Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited.