Mukesh Ambani joins Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk in exclusive $100 Billion Club

The chairman of India’s Reliance Industries Ltd. entered the rarefied group of 11 men as his conglomerate’s stock climbed to a record on Friday. He’s now worth $100.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, after his wealth increased by $23.8 billion this year.

Since inheriting the oil-refining and petrochemicals businesses of his late father’s empire in 2005, Ambani, 64, has been seeking to transform the energy giant into a retail, technology and e-commerce titan. His telecommunications unit, which started services in 2016, is now the dominant carrier in the Indian market. His retail and technology ventures raised about $27 billion last year, selling stakes to investors ranging from Facebook Inc. and Google to KKR & Co. and Silver Lake.

Ambani unveiled an ambitious push into green energy in June, with a planned investment of about $10 billion over three years. And last month, the mogul said his company would “aggressively” pursue production of cheaper green hydrogen. The plan aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitions of turning India into a global manufacturing hub for the cleaner fuel to combat climate change and slash energy imports by the world’s third-biggest oil consumer.

India’s billionaires are some of the largest gainers on the world’s rich list, as Asia’s best-performing major stock market this year gets a boost from a surge in initial public offerings.

Gautam Adani, founder of coal-power and renewable energy conglomerate Adani Group, has added $39.5 billion to his fortune this year, while the country’s third-richest person, technology tycoon Azim Premji, saw his wealth to grow by $12.8 billion.

– BLOOMBERG