Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of Adani Group, overtook Indian compatriot billionaire Mukesh Ambani in February to become Asia's richest man and also earned the title of Asia’s busiest dealmaker.
According to a report by news agency Bloomberg, the $49 billion surge in his personal wealth this year has put Adani ahead of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett as well. Now, with a net worth of $125.5 billion also surpassing Jeff Bezos-Adani is expanding his infrastructure conglomerate. He's been the busiest dealmaker in Asia this year, acquiring assets such as Swiss cement giant Holcim Ltd.'s India units for $10 billion.
Adani who is seen as close to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, made a hostile bid for broadcaster NDTV, one of the few media organisations in India willing to criticise the government. Adani Enterprises Ltd. has explained in filings that it intends to bolster NDTV's business and “empower Indian citizens.”
According to Bloomberg Billionaires index, Adani currently stands at number 3, with a total net worth of $125 billion. Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and Twitter, has lost the title of the world’s richest person. Musk’s wealth has tumbled by more than $100 billion since January to $168.5 billion.
Musk is being replaced by French businessman Bernard Renault, the boss of the luxury brands company LVMH. According to Bloomberg, Arnault’s net worth is around $172.9 billion. The 73-year-old fashion giant's wealth largely derives from his 48 per cent ownership of LVMH.
Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur who dropped out of college, began his career as a diamond trader in Mumbai and made most of his fortune in ports and mines, with his controversial investment in Australia's Carmichael coal mine making him a target of environmentalists.
The stake has also meant that his latest pivot, a pledge to plough $70 billion into green energy, is being scrutinised just as Adani is trying to establish himself more firmly on the global stage. His big bets, in cement and renewable energy, as well as airports and an expanded mining operation, have been funded by huge levels of debt.
A unit of rating company Fitch Group Inc. flagged the “elevated” leverage in Adani's business in a September report.