Adani briefly becomes world’s 2nd richest person on Forbes real-time billionaire list

NEW DELHI: Business conglomerate Adani Group’s chairman Gautam Adani briefly became the world’s second-richest person after overtaking Louis Vuitton’s Bernard Arnault, according to Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List.

Gautam Adani’s net worth rose to $153.9 billion, compared to Arnault’s net worth of $153.7 billion. He was just behind business magnate Elon Musk, according to Forbes’ data. However, Arnault reclaimed the second spot some time later.

Elon Musk’s net worth is way higher at $273.5 billion. India’s Mukesh Ambani is at number eight with a total net worth of $91.9 billion.

Gautam Adani is a first-generation entrepreneur and the Adani Group comprises seven publicly listed entities with businesses spanning energy, ports and logistics, mining and resources, gas, defence and aerospace and airports. The group has established a leadership position in India in each of its business areas.

The Adani Group is the third largest conglomerate (after Reliance Industries and the Tata Group) in India. Listed Adani group companies are Adani Enterprises, Adani Green Energy, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone, Adani Power, Adani Total Gas, and Adani Transmission.

Over the past five years, flagship company Adani Enterprises has invested heavily in new growth sectors that include airports, cement, copper refining, data centres, green hydrogen, petrochemical refining, roads and solar cell manufacturing.

Looking ahead, it plans to foray into the telecom space and has massive plans to grow its green hydrogen and airports businesses. Recently, the group also announced plans to set up a 4.1 mtpa integrated alumina refinery and a 30 mtpa iron ore beneficiation plant in Odisha that could cost over Rs 580 billion. His group has committed $70 billion for green energy infrastructure.

As corporate social responsibility toward the community, the Adani Group had decided to contribute Rs 60,000 crore towards charitable activities related to healthcare, education, and skill development, focussing mainly on rural India, he told shareholders at the group’s Annual General Meeting held in late July. (ANI)