Gautam Adani, a coal industry magnate and billionaire, recently surpassed Jeff Bezos on Forbes' real-time most wealthy list. The Indian tycoon ascended the ranks after adding $5.5 billion to his net worth, estimated to be around $155.7 billion.
Adani's Net Worth Continues Gargantuan Growth
At one point, the Indian billionaire narrowly outpaced the French LVMH tycoon, Bernard Arnault. The Louis Vuitton executive has reclaimed second place at the time of writing. Gautam Adani is followed by Jeff Bezos and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, remains at the top of the rich list.
According to The Independent, Adani's position in the list has shifted in his favor after shares of his Adani Enterprises Ltd reached a new high this week, while some of his companies have increased by more than 1,000% since 2020.
Adani Is First Asian to Enter Top 3 Richest List
Adani's ascent to the ranks of the world's richest people is not surprising. The 60-year-old chairman of the Adani Group has replaced Bernard Arnault on Forbes' Real Time Billionaire's List and is the closest person to match Elon Musk's accumulated net worth. With a current net worth of $155.5 billion, he is the first Asian to be listed among the top three billionaires in the world.
Adani has financial stakes in six publicly listed companies that operate ports, airports, green energy facilities, and data centers across Asia. Due to the exponential growth of his group of businesses, he became one of the fastest-growing billionaires in history, India Today suggests. In February of this year, Adani surpassed Mukesh Ambani, a fellow billionaire Indian, to claim the title of the richest person in Asia. Ambani is currently ranked No. 8 in the world, with a net worth of $93.4 billion.
According to Forbes, Adani's desire for growth has prompted him to enter challenging new industries. The billionaire's company is in the process of concluding its $10.5 billion acquisition of the Indian subsidiary of Swiss cement manufacturer Holcim Group.
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In this deal, the Adani Group will purchase stock in the publicly traded cement firms Ambuja Cement and ACC. The same report tells us that these transactions, for which open offers were closed last week, would make Adani India's second-largest cement producer.
As per stock exchange records from March 2022, Adani owns a 75% stake in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Transmissions, according to information from Hindustan Times. Adani also owns 37% of Adani Total Gas, 65% of Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, and 61% of Adani Green Energy. These mentioned industries hold a large chunk of the Indian economy.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index still banners Musk as the richest person in the world. The estimated value of his current wealth is $272 billion, or roughly 1% of the US GDP and 3 million times the average American household income. The ranking of the richest men in the world is likely to change significantly again in the coming months as the economy starts to recover from the current financial downturn.
