Ambani tops Forbes' global billionaire gainers list with $7B wealth jump as Reliance shares soar

Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani has emerged as the world's biggest billionaire wealth gainer, adding over $6 billion to his fortune in a single day, as shares of his flagship company surged following a stronger-than-expected quarterly earnings performance.

According to Forbes' Real-Time Billionaires list, Ambani's wealth increased by 7.85%, or $6.3 billion, making him the biggest gainer globally in the latest update to the ranking on November 2.

The gain was substantially ahead of the second-biggest wealth accretion on the list, with Spanish retail billionaire Amancio Ortega adding $1.7 billion, followed by China's Zhong Shanshan at $1.5 billion.

The gains pushed Ambani to No.23 spot on the world billionaire list, making him the richest Indian ahead of Gautam Adani, who was ranked at No.26 with a wealth of $79.12 billion, according to the Forbes listing. Ambani had a wealth of $88.8 billion, according to Forbes.

The sharp increase in Ambani's wealth coincided with a rally in Reliance Industries shares, which jumped 11.6% on Monday, marking their strongest trading session in more than six years. The stock closed at its day's high and was the biggest gainer on the benchmark Nifty 50 index.

The rally followed Reliance's September-quarter results, which showed a 40.6% year-on-year increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 25,548 crore, significantly ahead of analyst expectations. Stronger refining and petrochemical margins, alongside improved profitability at its telecom business Jio, helped drive the earnings growth.

The results reinforced investor confidence in Reliance's two major earnings engines - its oil-to-chemicals business and digital services - even as profitability in its retail business remained under pressure.

The company's refining core earnings surged 68%, while Jio Platforms' core earnings rose 16.6% during the quarter.

"Mukesh Ambani chairs and runs $125 billion (revenue) Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, media and financial services," Forbes said.

Reliance was founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, a yarn trader, in 1966 as a small textile manufacturer. After his father's death in 2002, Ambani and his younger sibling, Anil, divided the family empire.

Reliance's telecom and broadband service Jio Platforms got listed in October 2026, achieving a market capitalisation of $137 billion, which made it the country's second-most valuable company after its parent.

Ambani's three children joined the board of Reliance in 2023. Son Akash heads Jio; daughter Isha oversees retail and financial services; and younger son Anant is in the energy business.

In 2026, Ambani announced plans for a $110 billion investment in AI infrastructure to be built across the country over the next seven years, the publication added.""