Gautam Adani now world’s 3rd richest, First Asian in top 3
Just a few years ago, Gautam Adani was mostly unknown outside of India. The Indian billionaire, who dropped out of college and tried his luck as a diamond trader before switching to coal, is now the third-richest person in the world.
It’s the first time an Asian has entered the top three of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index; Jack Ma of China and fellow citizen Mukesh Ambani have never done so. With a fortune of $137.4 billion, Mr. Adani has surpassed Bernard Arnault of France and is now just behind US billionaires Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in terms of wealth.
The 60-year-old Mr. Adani has invested the last several years in growing his coal-to-ports conglomerate by foraying into a variety of industries, including data centres, cement, media, and alumina. The group today controls the largest private-sector coal miner, city-gas distributor, and operator of ports and airports in India. Environmentalists have criticized the company’s Carmichael mine in Australia, but it promised in November to invest $70 billion in renewable energy to become the greatest generator in the world.
Concerns about the quick expansion have grown as his empire grew into one of the largest companies in the world, fueling the incredible wealth gains. According to a report released this month by CreditSights, Mr. Adani’s deal-making frenzy has been largely supported by debt, and his enterprise is “seriously over-leveraged.”
Gautam Adani now world’s 3rd richest, First Asian in top 3
Concerns over ambiguous ownership structures and a dearth of analyst coverage at Adani Group companies have also been voiced by certain lawmakers and market observers. However, as the billionaire concentrated on areas that Prime Minister Narendra Modi views as essential to achieving India’s long-term goals, the shares have soared—some of them by more than 1,000% since 2020, with prices reaching 750 times earnings.
With investments from companies like Warburg Pincus and TotalEnergies SE, Mr. Adani has been able to move up the corporate ladder and into the formerly held by US tech moguls. His rise has been accelerated even further by the recent jump in coal prices.
In total, Mr. Adani increased his wealth by $60.9 billion in 2022 alone, five times more than anyone else. He initially eclipsed Mukesh Ambani as the wealthiest Asian in February, hit the billionaire milestone in April, and last month passed Microsoft Corp.’s Bill Gates as the fourth-richest person on the planet.
The reason why Mr. Adani was able to surpass some of the wealthiest US billionaires is in part due to their recent increase in philanthropy. While Warren Buffett has previously given the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation more than $35 billion, Bill Gates said in July that he would transfer $20 billion to the organization.
Together with Melinda French Gates, Bill Gates’ ex-wife, they launched the Giving Pledge campaign in 2010, promising to donate the majority of their wealth before they pass away. Their position on the Bloomberg wealth ranking has decreased due to the enormous sums of money spent on philanthropy. Buffett is now sixth, and Gates is fifth.
Even Mr. Adani has raised his donations to charity. In order to celebrate his 60th birthday, he promised to donate $7.7 billion to charitable causes in June.
As we celebrate 75 years of freedom, India stands on the threshold of infinite opportunities and accelerated growth. Powered by the aspirations and dreams of our youth, the greatest democracy’s story is only beginning.
There can be no stopping India.
Jai Hind. pic.twitter.com/16dLysJPpQ— Gautam Adani (@gautam_adani) August 14, 2022
