Mukesh Ambani now Asia's richest man

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Mukesh Ambani now Asia's richest man

Indian businessman Mukesh Ambani is now the 9th richest person in the world and Asia's richest man - a title that was once held by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, whose net worth has plunged due to allegations from a U.S. short seller.

According to Forbes real time billionaires, the 65-year-old is chairman and the patriarch of multi-conglomerate Reliance Industries 500325. His current net worth is $83.9 billion.

Ambani left Stanford University in 1980 to help his father run Reliance, which was then a small business. Last year, the company generated $7.6 billion in net income, as a multi-conglomerate, spanning an array of sectors including energy, telecom, retail and textiles.

Reliance is a family-owned company to date. When Ambani's father passed away in 2022, Ambani and his younger brother Anil divided the empire — not amicably though. Tensions ran high between the brothers as their father did not leave a will, leaving their mother to mediate and split the company into two.

Ambani's children play in the Mumbai-listed business. His son Akash is now chairman of Reliance Jio, which is the internet and technology arm of Reliance, daughter Isha runs Reliance's retail operations and youngest son Anant looks after the group's energy unit.

Mukesh Ambani is leading the group's pivot to green energy. Reliance committed $80 billion to renewables in the family's home state of Gujarat over the next 10 -- 15 years.

The Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has had a rough time in the last week.

Adani's net worth has dropped to $82.7 billion, making him the 10th richest person in the world.

Adani Group faced allegations of fraud after the U.S. short seller Hindenburg Research published a report that sent all Adani-linked companies shares falling.

Who is Gautam Adani? The world is now tenth richest man.

Stakes were high this week for Adani Enterprises 512599, $2.5 billion secondary share sale.

On Wednesday, Barrons reported a $400 million investment from International Holding Co., a fund linked to Abu Dhabi's ruling family, which has already poured billions into the Adani companies.

Two of India's biggest family businesses tycoons, Sajjan Jindal and Sunil Mittal, invested in the sale in a sign of solidarity, according to a Bloomberg report cited by people familiar with the matter. Jindal has bought about $30 million, according to a report.

The scrutiny of the Adani group's finances has been mounting since the Hindenburg report. Credit Suisse's private bank is no longer accepting bonds as collateral for margin loans, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday. When contacted by MarketWatch, the bank wouldn't say anything about the report.

The Swiss lender has now cut its lending value on bonds sold by three Adani companies: Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone 532921, Adani Green Energy 541450 and Adani Power 533096. Credit Suisse didn't respond to MarketWatch's request for comment on the report.