Mukesh Ambani joins the world’s special $100 billion club along with Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk

The chairman of Reliance Industries Ltd entered a rare group of 11 people as his group’s stock climbed to a record high on Friday. After increasing his wealth by $23.8 billion this year, his wealth now stands at $100.6 billion.

Since inheriting the oil-refining and petrochemical businesses of his late father’s empire in 2005, Ambani, 64, has been trying to transform the energy giant into a retail, technology and e-commerce titan. Their telecom arm, which started services in 2016, is now the dominant carrier in the Indian market. His retail and technology ventures raised nearly $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, Mogul said his company would “aggressively” pursue production of cheap green hydrogen. The plan is in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ambitions to transform India into a global manufacturing hub for clean fuels to tackle climate change and reduce energy imports. The world’s third largest oil consumer.

The oil-to-chemicals business is now a separate entity, and talks are underway to acquire a Saudi Arabian oil company as an investor.

India’s billionaires are some of the biggest gainers in the list of the world’s rich, as Asia’s best-performing major stock exchange this year was boosted by 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 man, technology tycoon Azim Premji, has seen his wealth increase by $12.8 billion.