Quiet And Steady: Gautam Adani Beats Musk, Bezos With Biggest Wealth Surge

Gautam Adani has added more billions to his wealth than any one else in the world this year on the back of investor excitement around his ports-to-power plants conglomerate.

The net worth of Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur who rarely speaks publicly, has jumped $16.2 billion in 2021 to $50 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. This has made him the year’s biggest wealth gainer, beating even Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, who have tussled in 2021 for the title of world’s richest. Shares of all Adani group stocks, except one, have rallied at least 50 per cent this year. The surge in wealth dwarfs the $8.1 billion added by Adani’s compatriot and the richest person in Asia, Mukesh Ambani. It also underscores the rising heft of the self-made billionaire, who has lured investment from Total SA to Warburg Pincus.

Adani has been rapidly expanding his conglomerate, adding ports, airports, data centers and coal mines in India, while doggedly proceeding with his controversial Carmichael coal project in Australia. “Adani has been consistently expanding its business in areas that are resilient to market cycles,” said Sunil Chandiramani, founder and chief executive officer at Nyka Advisory Services. “Now with the entry in data centers business, the group has also indicated its appetite for venturing into technology.”

Adani Enterprises signed a pact last month to develop 1 gigawatt of data center capacity in India. Adani Total Gas has jumped 96 per cent this year while the flagship Adani Enterprises has advanced 90 per cent. Adani Transmission is up 79 per cent.

Adani Power and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones have gained more than 52 per cent this year. Adani Green Energy, after rising over 500 per cent last year, is up 12 per cent so far.

Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.

We, however, have a request.

As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.

Digital Editor