Silicon Valley gave Asia's richest man billions, but things aren't all going to plan

Last year, Google and Facebook collectively bet more than $10 billion on Asia's richest man and his plan to bring hundreds of millions of Indians online.

The investments quickly established Mukesh Ambani, the billionaire head of sprawling Indian conglomerate Reliance, as a gatekeeper for Silicon Valley in the country — but also raised the stakes for him to deliver the companies a footing in the world's fastest growing internet market. Ambani plans to use Facebook's (FB) messaging service, WhatsApp, to connect millions of small businesses in India to his e-commerce initiative, JioMart. The partnership with Google (GOOGL), meanwhile, aims to jointly develop an affordable 5G smartphone.