“Having finished the “world’s fastest billion dollar fund raise” in the technology sector, Mukesh Ambani gained all the wealth he lost before the Janata Curfew.

While most of the world’s top 100 billionaires recouped the losses suffered in the first two months, Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Huang Zheng of Pinduoduo are among some who made more money from the Covid pandemic, according to the new report by China-based Hurun Research.

Bezos added Rs 53 crore an hour to his wealth in the past four months while millions lost wealth and jobs due to the virus and the consequent lockdown.

Hurun Research on Tuesday released a special report looking into wealth changes of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs in the four months ended May 31, 2020. The report says that the world’s top 100 billionaires recouped almost all losses in the two months of April and May after losing Rs 30, 80,900 crore due to Covid-related constraints in February and March of 2020. The billionaires are only 2% down cumulatively when compared to the wealth assessed as on January 31, 2020, in the Hurun Global Rich List 2020.

The big winners from the pandemic are online retailers, pharmaceuticals, home improvement retailers, chocolate, soya sauce and pork producers. In the four months to May 31, China added three individuals to the world’s top 100 billionaires.

“The two biggest ‘winners’ from Covid-19 were online retailers Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Colin Huang Zheng of Chinese low-end ‘social shopping’ giant Pinduoduo, who added Rs 1,51,000 crore and Rs 1,35,900 crore to their fortunes, pretty much all the gains coming in the past two months. For Bezos and Huang, Covid-19 has seen their wealth increase in the shape of a ‘Nike tick’ while others showed a v-shaped recovery,” Rupert Hoogewerf, Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher, said.

“Another big winner is Eric Yuan Zheng of popular video conferencing app Zoom, who saw his wealth triple from Rs 34,000 crore in January to Rs 98,200 crore , propelling him up from 555th in the world four months ago to knocking on the door of the world’s top 100,” he added.

Stock markets across the world dropped significantly in the first two months after the outbreak but clawed back some of the losses in the next two months, the report says. The British pound and Indian rupee were down 5.6% and 5.3% against the dollar, while the Chinese yuan and euro were up 2% and 1%, respectively.
In India, Cyrus Poonawalla-run Serum Institute of India gained almost 25% in the four months to register a wealth of Rs 1,13,300 crore at May end on the back of Covid vaccine manufacturing potential.

“Having finished the “world’s fastest billion dollar fund raise” in the technology sector, Mukesh Ambani gained all the wealth he lost before the Janata Curfew.
India could be playing a very impactful role in fighting coronavirus through Poonawalla-run Serum Institute. Foreign investors’ belief in India’s telecom potential and leadership in biotech were displayed during the four months post Covid-19,” said Anas Rahman Junaid, MD and chief researcher, Hurun India.