Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani becomes the world’s third richest person

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani has surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and LVMH co-founder Bernard Arnault to turn into the world’s third richest person, with total assets of $137.4 billion. Adani currently trails Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index ranking. Bernard Arnault, the world’s 4th richest person, is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector. He is the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s largest luxury goods company. With the new total assets surge, Adani has now turned into the first Indian, and Asian to enter the top three of the said index. Reliance Chairman Mukesh Ambani and China’s Jack Ma were likewise always unable to accomplish this.

Indian billionaire Gautam Adani has overtaken France’s Bernard Arnault to turn into the world’s third richest person, as indicated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. It’s whenever an Asian first has broken into the top three of the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

It was possibly last month when Gautam Adani replaced Bill Gates to turn into the world’s fourth-richest person, as his total assets surged to $113 billion, outperforming the Microsoft co-founder by $230 million around then, as indicated by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The jump in Adani’s ranking in the index is a result of the gigantic surge in his fortune up until this point this year.

While all other billionaires in the top 10 have seen a decline in their total assets YTD, Adani’s fortune has gone up by $60.9 billion, five times more than any other person. In the interim, Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani is at the number 11 position with a $91.9 billion fortune.

One reason for Gautam Adani climbing the ranks is the surge in Adani Group stocks in the ongoing past. Notwithstanding a few lawmakers and market watchers raising worries over opaque shareholder structures and a lack of analyst coverage at Adani Group companies, the shares have taken off. A few Adani group companies’ shares have rallied over 1,000% starting around 2020, with valuations hitting 750 times earnings.

As per a Bloomberg report, another justification for why Adani had the option to move past a portion of the world’s richest US billionaires was partly on the grounds that some of them as of late boosted their philanthropy. In July, Bill Gates said he was transferring $20 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Warren Buffett has previously donated more than $35 billion to the charity.

With a $137.4 billion fortune, Gautam Adani has overwhelmed France’s Bernard Arnault and presently trails just Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos of the US in the ranking.

Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector. He is the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world’s largest luxury goods company.

With a $91.9 billion fortune, Reliance Industries Ltd chairman Mukesh Ambani is in the number 11 position.

Last month, the Indian billionaire supplanted Bill Gates to turn into the world’s fourth-richest person as his total assets surged to $113 billion, outperforming the Microsoft Corporation co-founder by $230 million, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.

Gautam Adani has added $60.9 billion to his fortune in 2022 alone, five times more than any other person. He first overtook Mukesh Ambani as the richest Asian in February, turned into a centibillionaire in April, and outperformed Microsoft Corp. Bill Gates was the world’s fourth-richest person last month.

Gautam Adani had the option to move past a portion of the world’s richest US billionaires partly because they’ve recently boosted their philanthropy. Gates said in July he was transferring $20 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Warren Buffett has previously given more than $35 billion to the charity.

Gautam Adani, as well, has expanded his charitable giving, pledging in June to donate $7.7 billion to social causes to donate to his 60th birthday celebration. He hasn’t given any details yet.

Adani, 60, has gone through beyond a couple of years growing his coal-to-ports conglomerate, venturing into everything from data centers to cement, media, and alumina. The group currently owns India’s biggest private-sector port and airport operator, city-gas distributor, and coal miner.

Mr. Gautam Adani added $60.9 billion to his fortune in 2022 alone, five times more than any other person. He previously overtook Mukesh Ambani as the richest Asian in February, and afterward outperformed Microsoft Corporation’s Bill Gates as the world’s fourth-richest person last month.

Mr. Gautam Adani (60) has been extending his coal-to-ports conglomerate to avenues like data centers, cement, media, and alumina for a couple of years, according to a Bloomberg report. The Adani group presently owns India’s biggest private-sector port and airport operator, city-gas distributor, and coal miner. Moreover, Mr. Adani pledged in November to invest $70 billion in green energy to become the world’s largest renewable-energy producer, the report said.

The report likewise cited to CreditSights as saying this month that the Adani Group’s development has been predominantly funded with debt and its empire is “deeply over-leveraged.” “Some lawmakers and market watchers have also raised concerns over opaque shareholder structures and a lack of analyst coverage at Adani Group companies,” it said.

Inside India, Gautam Adani has been bringing his profile up in alternate ways, as well.
Last week, he caused waves by announcing a hostile bid to assume control over a powerful broadcaster, New Delhi Television (NDTV). The deal is being sought after by AMG Media Networks, a unit of Adani’s conglomerate.

In any case, the group’s media foray comes when its debt-fueled quick expansion has turned into an issue of worry for analysts. The move has additionally created unease about future editorial freedom for NDTV, one of the country’s most respected news networks.

Mr. Gautam Adani’s new ascent to the top three is mostly a result of more noteworthy philanthropy among the top billionaires. Mr. Gates said in July that he was transferring $20 billion to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Warren Buffett has proactively donated more than $35 billion to charity. On his part, Mr. Adani too pledged in June to donate $7.7 billion to social causes to mark his 60th birthday celebration.

5 things you really want to be familiar with Gautam Adani

1. With $137 billion in total assets, Adani is currently just behind Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Amazon Inc. founder Jeff Bezos whose ongoing total assets are at $251 billion and $153 billion, individually. Both Musk’s and Bezos’ fortunes have seen a decline this year. While Musk’s total assets dropped by almost $19 billion, Bezos’ total assets dropped by $39 billion.

2. The 60-year-old billionaire is a college dropout who initially took luck as a diamond trader prior to going to coal. In a couple of years, Adani has extended his coal-to-ports conglomerate and ventured into data centers, cement, media, and alumina.

3. His most recent takeover bid of famous New Delhi Television (NDTV) has garnered a lot of attention as the company founders said the action was made without their consent.

4. Adani currently owns India’s biggest private-sector port and airport operator, city-gas distributor, and coal miner. His venture into coal has been marred with controversy as the group’s Carmichael mine in Australia has been criticized by environmentalists.

5. There have additionally been worries over the debt-equity ratio as Adani grows his empire to one of the world’s biggest conglomerates. Adani’s deals spree has been predominantly funded with debt and his empire is “deeply over-leveraged,” CreditSights said in a report this month.

Here is the most recent list of the world’s top 10 richest persons (August 30, 2022)

1. Elon Musk: $251B
2. Jeff Bezos: $153B
3. Gautam Adani: $137B
4. Bernard Arnault: $136B
5. Bill Gates: $117B
6. Warren Buffett: $100B
7. Larry Page: $100B
8. Sergey Brin: $95.8B
9. Steve Ballmer: $93.7B
10. Larry Ellison: $93.3B