Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of the Adani Group.
After a meteoric rise in his net worth over the past two years, Indian infrastructure tycoon Gautam Adani has become the world’s newest centi-billionaire, joining an elite group of just eight other business moguls–including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates–to boast fortunes of more than $100 billion. He is the richest Asian billionaire ever as of Monday’s market close, not adjusting for inflation, Forbes estimates.
The 59-year-old Adani, who is the only Indian currently in the elite club, is the founder and chairman of Adani Group, a port and energy conglomerate with six publicly listed companies in India. His fortune climbed past the 12-figure mark after it was announced Friday that Abu Dhabi’s International Holding Co. invested $2 billion in three of his green energy-focused businesses: Adani Green Energy, Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises. IHC is chaired by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE’s national security advisor and the brother of the country’s crown prince, Sheik Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
Shares of Adani Green Energy, the renewable energy company of which Adani owns more than 60%, have jumped nearly 25% since the Friday announcement. Adani Transmission and Adani Enterprises–his other most valuable investments–also rose, by 11% and 3%, respectively. Adani is worth an estimated $122 billion as of Monday afternoon, according to the Forbes’ real-time billionaires tracker, making him the richest person in Asia and the No. 6 wealthiest person in the world.
It’s been a rapid rise to the top for Adani, whose entrepreneurial journey began in 1988 when he started a commodities export firm after dropping out of college and spurning his father’s textile shop. The owner of India’s largest port, located in his home state of Gujarat, he first joined the billionaire ranks in 2008, with an estimated net worth of $9.3 billion, but really began to gain momentum at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, after a period of aggressive expansion into renewable energy, media, airports and more. Adani has said he wants to become the world’s largest producer of green energy, with a goal of investing up to $70 billion into renewable energy projects.
Adani’s estimated fortune had jumped from $8.9 billion to $50.5 billion by April 2021, when Forbes released its annual World’s Billionaires list for that year. He then overtook fellow Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani, the head of Reliance Industries, as Asia’s richest person in February 2022 after his net worth nearly doubled once again, to more than $90 billion; Adani Green Energy’s shares had increased nearly 80% in a year. By the time Forbes released its 2022 billionaires list, Ambani had narrowly regained the No. 1 spot in Asia, edging Adani out by a mere $700 million. Ambani is now Asia’s second richest person–himself a near centi-billionaire, worth an estimated $99.4 billion as of Monday afternoon.
Adani is one of just nine billionaires to currently claim the title of centi-billionaire, according to Forbes’ estimates. The others are Tesla
Representatives for Adani did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Forbes.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jemimamcevoy/2022/04/11/indias-gautam-adani-is-now-richest-asian-billionaire-ever-as-fortune-jumps-past-100-billion/