Billionaire Ambani cries tears of joy as Jio Platforms becomes the second most valued Indian firm

MUMBAI, INDIA - OCTOBER 28: Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani (2L), Reliance Foundation Founder-Chairperson Nita Ambani (L), Jio Platforms Ltd. Non-Executive Director Isha Ambani (3L), Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. Chairman Akash Ambani (C), Non-Executive Director Anant Ambani (3R), Radhika Merchant (2R), and Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani (R) ring the ceremonial listing bell during the stock market debut of Jio Platforms at the NSE exchange hall in Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) on October 28, 2026 in Mumbai, India.Hindustan Times | Hindustan Times | Getty ImagesBillionaire Mukesh Ambani has become the owner of the two most valued companies in India, after a stellar listing of Jio Platforms, the country's largest telecom operator and digital services firm.The share of Jio Platforms continued to climb higher on Thursday, opening 3.3% higher a day after its market debut.The Meta- and Google-backed company listed on Wednesday at a premium of over 25% to its IPO price, leading to a market capitalization of 13.05 trillion rupees ($137.1 billion). Ambani's flagship company, Reliance Industries, also the most valued company in India, owns more than a 64% stake in Jio Platforms after the initial public offering.Ahead of the listing, the patriarch of the Ambani family teared up as his three children shared the journey of building Jio and vowed to create value for investors over the next 50 years.Analysts expect Jio's free cash flow to improve significantly as the funds from the initial public offering will be used to repay legacy telecom debt, and the company's 5G investment cycle is slowing down. However, they cautioned that most of the value has been priced in after the listing gains, with the company now being valued on par with some of the global telecom giants.With just 3% share dilution, Jio has wiped out nearly 300 billion rupees of debt, said Anurag Singh, founder and managing partner of U.S. based Ansid Capital, told CNBC. He added Jio's current market cap puts it in the league of American telecom giants such as AT&T and Verizon Communications.AT&T has a market cap of $139 billion and Verizon of $179 billion, as per LSEG data.Imagine if the Indian economy becomes equal to the American economy tomorrow; that's the valuation at which investors are buying Jio.Anurag SinghFounder, Ansid CapitalIn the next 10 years, Jio will "democratize every technology that can transform Indian lives," Akash Ambani, the eldest son of Mukesh and the managing director of Jio Platforms, said on Wednesday, ahead of the listing.The 35-year-old scion listed out artificial intelligence, Cloud, connected devices, and "connectivity from even space," as some of the key areas for future growth. The company's plans to launch satellite communications drew the ire of trillionaire Elon Musk, who blamed the Ambanis for the delays in the launch of Starlink in India earlier this month."Jio brings a rare scale to Indian equities," with a customer base of more than half a billion, operating margins of 52% and net leverage of 0.36 times, Vaqarjaved Khan, senior analyst at Indian broking firm Angel One, told CNBC.He added that at a price-to-earnings of 34 times, much of the "quality" is priced in and future returns will be driven by improvement in average revenue per user and AI services.Meanwhile, after Jio's listing pop, Reliance Group's market value of 30 trillion rupees has surpassed that of Tata Group's 25 trillion rupees, making Ambani family business the top conglomerate in the country, as per a Bloomberg report.