Gautam Adani Becomes Second Richest Man In The World, Edges Past Bernard Arnault: Report

Gautam Adani's net worth rose by $5.2 billion, a hike of 3.49 per cent. He is narrowly ahead of French tycoon Bernard Arnault and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, as per Forbes Real Time Billionaires List

Billionaire Gautam Adani has now become the world's second richest man, replacing French billionaire Bernard Arnault by a whisker on the Forbes list. The Adani Group chairman's net worth now stands at $155.5 billion (Rs 12.37 lakh crore), according to Forbes Real Time Billionaires List.

Gautam Adani's net worth rose by $5.2 billion, a hike of 3.49 per cent. He is narrowly ahead of French tycoon Bernard Arnault and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, whereas Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk continues to occupy the top slot in the rich list.

In the top 10 rich list, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani is the second Indian with a net worth of $92.2 billion. The other billionaires in the top ten list include Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffett, Larry Page, and Sergey Brin.

Adani had surpassed Louis Vitton boss Arnault to become the world's third richest man on August 30. It was the first instance when an Asian was ranked among the top three billionaires.

Adani Group's Adani Wilmar Ltd is now scouting for local and overseas acquisition targets to boost its food operations business, Bloomberg reported. Angshu Mallick, company’s chief executive officer and managing director, told Bloomberg that the firm is looking to acquire brands in staple foods and distribution companies to boost its consumer goods offering and reach.

Adani Wilmar has earmarked Rs 500 crore from its initial public offering (IPO) for the purchases. The additional funding will be sourced from internal accruals and the Rs 3,000 crore of planned capital expenditure for next year starting April, he said. The food company’s shares have more than tripled since its $486 million debut in February.

The announcement comes after Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries announced its foray into FMCG business through its subsidiary Reliance Retail in August.

Meanwhile, HDC Bulk Terminal Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited (APSEZ), India's largest integrated transport utility and part of Adani Group, has signed concession agreement with Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port, Kolkata for mechanisation of Berth no. 2 at Haldia Port.

This is in continuation to the selection of APSEZ as a successful bidder by Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port earlier in February, the conglomerate has said. "The mechanisation and upgradation of Haldia Bulk Terminal provides us the opportunity to firmly establish APSEZ’s footprint in Bengal," said Karan Adani, CEO and whole-time director, APSEZ.