Gautam Adani becomes Asia's richest person overtaking Mukesh Ambani
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Billonaire businessman Gautam Adani has become Asia's richest man after Adani Wilmar closed its first day on the stock market with a valuation of Rs 35,467.5 crore, as per a PTI report.
The 59-year-old mogul's net worth reached $88.5 billion on Monday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, eclipsing fellow countryman Mukesh Ambani's $87.9 billion.
Gautam Adani's wealth increased by about $12 billion year-to-date, while Mukesh Ambani's wealth saw a YTD fall of about $2.07 billion.
Gautam Adani has tapped into a basket of newly emerging sectors such as renewable and other green energy projects.
Some Adani-owned firms such as Adani Total Gas Ltd and Adani Transmission Ltd have performed much better than others in the last year, with the former jumping by about 370% and the latter rising by 250%.
Interestingly, Adani's FMCG firm Adani Wilmar, which listed on the benchmark indices Tuesday, listed at a 4% discount in a tepid debut.
His Adani Group controls the port of Mundra, India's largest, in the mogul's home state of Gujarat and he also owns 74% of Mumbai international airport.
But his push into green energy has paid off handsomely in the past year with the listed company Adani Green Energy now his most valuable after its share price almost doubled in the past 12 months.
The group is in the process of ploughing $70bn into green energy projects by 2030 with the aim of becoming the world's largest renewable-energy producer.
To be sure, Mukesh Ambani is currently the second richest person in India as well as Asia, and is the eleventh richest person of the world, according to Bloomberg's tally of top 500 richest people in the world. As of February 8, Ambani's total net worth is $87.9 billion.