NEW DELHI, Apr 17: Business tycoon Gautam Adani has overtaken fellow Gujarat industrialist Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest person, driven by a strong rally in shares of his ports-to-energy conglomerate, which boosted his net worth significantly.
With a net worth of USD 92.6 billion, Adani has surpassed Ambani, whose wealth stands at USD 90.8 billion, according to the latest global billionaire rankings.
Adani, the founder of the Adani Group, oversees India’s largest private port network, operates major airports, leads the country’s largest renewable energy portfolio, and is among the world’s significant coal traders.
He is currently ranked 19th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the world’s top 500 richest individuals and is updated daily.
His wealth is largely driven by shareholdings across the group’s listed companies. A recent surge in Adani Group stocks has added substantial market value, reflecting strong investor confidence in India’s infrastructure growth and energy transition sectors.
In contrast, Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries—whose business spans energy, telecom, and retail—has seen relatively slower growth in wealth, leading to a reshuffling in Asia’s billionaire rankings.
Globally, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, remains the world’s richest person with a net worth of USD 656 billion. He is followed by Larry Page, co-founder of Alphabet, with USD 286 billion, while Amazon founder Jeff Bezos ranks third with USD 269 billion.
Adani and Ambani remain the only Indians among the top 50 richest individuals globally. Ambani had held the position of India and Asia’s richest for over a decade before Adani’s rapid rise in 2022 due to sharp gains in stock prices.
However, Adani Group’s stocks later faced a major setback following a report by US short-seller Hindenburg Research, which led to a significant loss in market value. This allowed Ambani to regain the top position temporarily.
Since then, the two industrialists have exchanged the top spot multiple times, with Adani’s latest rise attributed to renewed investor interest, infrastructure expansion, and growth in the energy sector.
The Adani Group today has a diversified presence across logistics, energy, airports, defence, data centres, cement, roads, railways, real estate, food processing, and digital businesses.
According to the group, Gautam Adani is India’s first first-generation entrepreneur to build a business empire exceeding a market capitalisation of USD 200 billion. (Agency)
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