Gautam Adani, the Indian businessman, a college dropout who first tried his luck as a diamond trader before turning to coal, has become the world's third-richest person.
This is the first time, according to a Bloomberg report, that an Asian has made to the list of the top three wealthiest people in the world. Indian tycoon Mukesh Ambani and China-based Alibaba group's Jack Ma, other rich Asians, have not climbed this high.
While Telsa chief Musk has a net worth of $251 billion, Amazon founder and CEO Amazon - Jeff Bezos - has a total worth of $153 billion. Gautam Adani has surpassed Fresh business magnate Bernard Arnault, the co-founder, chairman, and chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury goods company.
Gautam Adani is the co-founder of the Adani Group, which is the largest port operator in the country. The group is also said to be the largest coal trader in the country. Revenue of $5.3 billion was reported by Adani Enterprises in the year to March 31, 2021, the Bloomberg profile of Asia's richest person highlights.
Adani has added $60.9 billion to his fortune in 2022 alone, five times more than anyone else. He first overtook Mukesh Ambani as the richest Asian in February, became a centibillionaire in April and surpassed Microsoft Corp.'s Bill Gates as the world's fourth-richest person last month.
Adani was able to move past some 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 & Melinda Gates Foundation, while Warren Buffett has already donated more than $35 billion to the charity.
Adani, too, has increased his charitable giving, pledging in June to donate $7.7 billion to social causes to mark his 60th birthday. He hasn't given any details yet.
Adani, 60, has spent the past few years expanding his coal-to-ports conglomerate, venturing into everything from data centers to cement, media, and alumina. The group now owns India's largest private-sector port and airport operator, city-gas distributor and coal miner.
Last week, the massive conglomerate made headlines with the announcement that the Adani firms are set to acquire 29 percent stakes in NDTV, one of India's top news networks. However, NDTV has said the deal is subject to market regulator SEBI's nod, which the conglomerate has declined.