With an estimated fortune of $137 billion (£117 billion), Indian businessman Gautam Adani is now the third-richest person in the world and the first Asian to rank in the top three. On the regularly updated Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Adani, 60, who created the mining-to-energy behemoth Adani Group after quitting college, was rated third on Tuesday.
According to the index, his fortune has increased by $61 billion so far this year as a result of the rising market value of many of his enterprises. Since many of his companies are engaged in the production of electricity, coal mining, and natural gas, they probably benefited from the rise in energy prices on a global scale.
The French billionaire Bernard Arnault, who controls the majority of the luxury brand portfolio LVMH, was passed by Adani to claim third place. Arnault’s net worth has decreased by $42 billion to $136 billion so far this year. Except for Adani, all of the top 10 billionaires have seen declines in their wealth this year after experiencing significant increases during the Covid crisis. Adani is the richest person in the world, surpassing only Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, each of whom has an estimated wealth of over $251 billion.
The group headed by Adani operates the busiest private airport and seaport in India as well as a sizable coal mine in Queensland, Australia. The corporation has come under harsh criticism for its water use of billions of liters annually and its environmental impact on the Great Barrier Reef. Teenage Swedish environmentalist Greta Thunberg has participated in the campaign against the Carmichael coalmine. It committed to invest $70 billion in green energy and emerge as the leading producer of renewables globally last year. Some detractors claim Adani has gained financially as a result of his strong friendship with Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister.
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When six Indian airports were set to be privatized in 2018, Modi loosened the restrictions to allow businesses without any prior airport management experience to submit bids. The six were acquired by Adani’s business, which is now the largest airport operator in the nation. Thomas Isaac, the state finance minister for Kerala, called it an ‘act of blatant favoritism.’ Adani donated the incoming prime minister of India his private jet for a victory tour after Modi won the 2014 election. Adani’s fortune has increased by more than 1,600% from an estimated $8 billion at the time of Modi’s election in 2014 to $137 billion right now.
Adani this week expanded his power by purchasing a 29% share in the television network New Delhi Television (NDTV), one of the few independent TV stations still operating in India. According to NDTV, Radhika Roy, a former journalist, and her husband, Prannoy Roy, a well-known economist, were the company’s co-founders and co-chairs when Adani allegedly purchased his interest through a third party without their knowledge. The sale, which includes an offer to purchase an additional 26% interest, was made ‘without discussion, consent, or notification,’ the company claimed.
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, Indian businessman Gautam Adani is now the third-richest person in the world and the first Asian to rank in the top three. On the regularly updated Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Adani, 60, who created the mining-to-energy behemoth Adani Group after quitting college, was rated third on Tuesday.){kind=link}