Gautam Adani Overtakes Mukesh Ambani As Asia's Richest Individual
Billionaire Gautam Adani has once again overtaken Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, to become Asia’s richest person on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Adani, the chairman of Adani Group, currently holds the 11th position on the index with a net worth of $111 billion, surpassing Ambani’s $109 billion.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Bernard Arnault remains the wealthiest individual globally, with a net worth of $207 billion and Elon Musk follows with $203 billion. In comparison, Jeff Bezos ranks third with $199 billion.
A key factor behind Adani’s rise is the recent surge in Adani Group stocks. On Friday, shares of all Adani Group companies surged after a Jefferies report highlighted the group’s ambitious expansion plans, including $90 billion in capital expenditures over the next decade.
This favourable market response led to an increase of ₹1.23 lakh crore in investor wealth for Adani Group stocks, raising their total market capitalisation to ₹17.94 lakh crore during intraday trading. By the end of the trading session, the market capitalisation settled at ₹17.51 lakh crore, reflecting an addition of ₹84,064 crore in value.
The year 2023 was considerably challenging for the Adani Group, following a Supreme Court order to investigate allegations detailed in the Hindenburg report. Previously ranked as the third richest person globally, Adani’s ranking fell significantly as the group’s shares experienced a substantial sell-off.
Despite these challenges, Adani remains optimistic about the group’s future. Last week, he expressed confidence in the company’s growth, stating, “The road ahead is paved with extraordinary possibilities, and I can promise you that the Adani Group today is stronger than it has ever been,” Adani was quoted as saying by NDTV.
