The badge that Indian business tycoon Mukesh Ambani has been donning with pride of being the richest man in Asia has been snatched away by Jack Ma once again and the reason being oil prices collapsed along with global stocks.

The rout erased $5.8 billion from Indian businessman’s net worth bringing him to No 2 spot on the list of Asia’s richest people. Alibaba Group founder Ma slided from No 1 ranking in mid-2018, is back on top with a $44.5 billion fortune about $2.6 billion more than Ambani.

Coronavirus has harmed some of Alibaba’s businesses, the damage has been mitigated by increased demand for its cloud computing services and mobile apps. On the contrary Reliance Industries has no such cushion. The Indian company’s shares plunged 12 per cent on March 9, the most since 2009, extending this year’s decline to 26 per cent. Alibaba’s American depositary receipts have slipped 6.8% so far in 2020.

Oil prices plunged the most in 29 years as Saudi Arabia and Russia vowed to pump more in a struggle for market share just as coronavirus is spurring the first decline in demand in more than a decade.