Gautam Adani overtakes Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest person
Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, who turned a small commodities trading business into a conglomerate spanning ports, mines and green energy, overtook Reliance Industries' Mukesh Ambani and is now Asia’s richest person.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the 59-year-old mogul's net worth surpassed $88.5 billion on Monday, surpassing Mukesh Ambani's $87.9 billion. Adani is the world's biggest wealth gainer this year, with an almost $12 billion increase in his personal fortune.
Meanwhile, Mukesh Ambani’s wealth has dropped by around $2.07 billion since January 2022.
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With the rising share prices of Adani Group's various entities, some of which had skyrocketed over 1,000 percent in the past two years, Adani has managed to surpass Ambani's top position.
The coal tycoon, whose controversial Australian mine project prompted criticism from climate activists like Greta Thunberg, is increasingly looking for ways to diversify his business outside fossil fuel.
He is branching out into renewable energy, airports, data centres and defence contracting, all of which Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi sees as critical to the country's long-term economic objectives and nation-building.
According to an ET article, Adani Green Energy (NS: ADNA) and Adani Total Gas (NS: ADAG) stocks have grown over 1,000 percent since the beginning of 2020, while Adani Enterprises (NS: ADEL) and Adani Transmission (NS: ADAI) have risen over 500 percent.
In addition, Adani Wilmar, Adani Group's FMCG unit, will begin trading on Indian exchanges on February 8, with an issue price of Rs 230 per share.
The ports-to-energy conglomerate currently owns 12 ports and plans to become the world's biggest port operator by 2030, with green energy capacity climbing by almost 8 times by 2025.
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-PTC News
