PODIUM | Indian group chairman Gautam Adani has overtaken LVMH chairman and CEO Bernard Arnault and is now the second richest person in the world with a net worth of $155.5 billion on the billionaire rankings in real time from Forbes.
Bernard Arnaultwhose fortune is estimated at just over 153 billion, remains in third position in the ranking of the richest men in the world. The CEO of You’re here, Elon Musk, remains the richest person in the world with a net worth of $273.5 billion. Gautam Adani also passed the president and founder ofAmazon, Jeff Bezoswhose fortune fell by $2.3 billion, at $148 billion.
Gautam Adani holds stakes in six listed companies who operate in them ports, them airports, green energy, data centers, etc. Adani became Asia’s richest person in February this year when he overtook fellow Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambaniwhose current net worth of $93.4 ranks him 8th in the world.
Adani Conglomerate Shares, Adani Enterprises, are rising and hit an all-time high of 3,749.15 rupees ($46) per share yesterday, more than double from a year ago. The actions of his Adani Power tripled last year to 398.4 rupees ($4.9) in response to growing electricity demand. The Renewable Energy Company Adani Green Energy also saw its share almost double last year to reach 2,343.05 rupees ($29.2).
Adani’s appetite for expansion has led him to take bold steps to enter new ventures. The group is in the process of finalizing its acquisition for $10.5 billion of the Indian branch of the Swiss cement company Holcim Group. As part of this transaction, Adani Group will acquire shares in two publicly traded cement companies – a 63.11% stake in Ambuja Cement and a 54.53% stake in ACC. The transactions, for which open offers were completed last week, would make Adani India’s second-largest cement maker.
Last month, theAdani Media Unit mounted a hostile bid to acquire New Delhi Television (NDTV), a broadcaster seen as anti-government. AMG Media Networks (AMNL) of the Adani group bought Vishvapradhan Commercial for 1.14 billion rupees ($14.3 million), giving him a 29.2% stake in NDTV.
Renewable energy is another big game: Adani’s utility company, Adani New Industriesannounced that it will invest more than 50 billion of dollars in the development of green energy over the next 10 years.