Billionaire Gautam Adani has overtaken Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of Louis Vuitton, to become the first Asian to make it to the top 3 of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
With a wealth of $137.4 billion, India’s Adani has become the third richest person in the world.
No Asian including China’s Jack Ma and India’s second richest person Mukesh Ambani has ever broken into the top three of the index.
Up at the third spot on the coveted rich list, the Adani Group chairman is now only behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk ($251 billion) and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ($153 billion). Moreover, the 60-year-old is the only one with gains in their fortune among the top 10 richest people including Musk. The last change in his wealth was +1.12 billion while the year-to-date change in his fortune was $60.9 billion.
Adani overtakes Bill Gates
Just last month, the billionaire industrialist surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to become the world’s fourth-richest person as his net worth surged to $113 billion. The latter’s wealth has now dropped to $117 billion. Adani managed to get past some of the world’s richest US billionaires partly as they recently boosted their philanthropy.
The timing of Adani’s feat assumes even more significance as it comes at a time when Fitch Group’s debt research unit CreditSights had recently said that the Adani Group is “deeply overleveraged” and its many investments in capital-intensive businesses could pose long-term risks to investors.
2022- The year of Adani
India’s richest man Adani has increased his wealth by over $60 billion in 2022 alone, which is five times more than anyone else. The industrialist overtook Ambani as the richest Asian in February and became a centibillionaire (people whose net wealth is $100 billion or above) two months later in April.
Meanwhile, on his 60th birthday on June 24, Adani also raised his charitable giving, vowing a donation worth Rs 60,000 for social causes.
Adani’s recent acquisitions
Media – A unit of the Adani group used financial rights in a bid to buy a 29.18% stake in NDTV, apart from an open offer for another 26% in line with Indian regulations. Adani announced the move on August 23 but NDTV, which has a market valuation of about $300 million, said its consent was not sought.
Power – Adani Power Ltd, India’s largest private thermal power producer, said on August 19 that it would buy thermal power plant operator DB Power for an enterprise value of Rs 7,017 crore ($878.61 million).
Road Assets – Adani Enterprises said on August 4 that a unit would buy Macquarie Asia Infrastructure Fund’s India toll roads in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat states for Rs 3,110 crore.
Port – Israel said on July 14 that it would sell Haifa Port, a major trade hub on its Mediterranean coast, to Adani Ports and local chemicals and logistics group Gadot for 4.1 billion shekels ($1.18 billion).
Cement – The Adani Group said in mid-May that it would buy Holcim AG’s cement businesses in India for $10.5 billion, its largest-ever acquisition, to become the country’s No. 2 cement manufacturer.
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