Submitted by CARPE DIEM

It was first reported in the Indian press that “A record-breaking performance by India’s stock markets has put the industrialist Mukesh Ambani at the top of a list of the world’s richest people.

Buoyed by unprecedented inflows from U.S. and European investors, the benchmark Mumbai Sensex stock index topped 20,000 for the first time yesterday – having almost doubled in value in the last two years.

One of the results of the surge in share prices has been a boost for Mr. Ambani’s Reliance Industries, a powerhouse of the country’s industrial strength and its most valuable firm. Its excellent performance, along with that of two other of the group’s companies, saw the net worth of its chairman and managing director rise to $63.2bn yesterday.”

Well, they made a small mistake, “The correct figure was more like $50 billion, Reliance said, because it had erroneously included the group’s petrol subsidiary in which Mr Ambani does not have a direct holding.”

What is not in dispute is that the Indian stock market has set 38 record closes this year, the BSE Index has surpassed 20,000 in recent trading, and is up by 62% YTD (in USD) and 44% YTD (in rupees). It is also true that Mr. Ambani’s personal wealth has increased from $20 billion in February of this year to $50 billion today. Not a bad year at all for Mukesh.

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