Indians are now Asia’s top two wealthiest people. Gautam Adani has surpassed China’s waterman Zhong Shanshan to become Asia’s second richest person. The Adani group chairman’s net worth has risen to $66.5 billion, surpassing Shanshan’s net worth of $63.6 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Mukesh Ambani, the chairman of Reliance Industries, had already surpassed the Chinese billionaire as Asia’s richest person in February. On the heels of a big surge in the stock markets of his group firms, Gautam Adani has now put him behind. Adani’s total wealth has increased by $32.7 billion this year, from $33.8 billion to $66.5 billion.
Adani’s group firms’ shares, such as Adani Green, Adani Enterprises, Adani Gas, and Adani Transmission, have risen dramatically in value over the last year, resulting in this increase in his fortune. In the last year, Adani Total Gas has increased by 1145 percent, while Adani Enterprises and Adani Transmission have increased by 827 percent and 617 percent, respectively. Adani Green Energy and Adani Power have earned 433 percent and 189 percent and 142 percent, respectively, within this time span, whereas Adani Power has increased by 142 percent.
Gautam Adani’s interests span a wide range of industries, including ports, airports, energy, resources, logistics, agro, real estate, financial services, gas distribution, and military. His company, Adani Green Energy, said yesterday, that it will pay $3.5 billion for Softbank’s Indian sustainable energy business SB Energy’s 5 GW renewable energy portfolio. According to a business release, the sale is India’s fastest – growing renewable energy acquisition.
Adani Group is already on a deal-making binge over the past two years, in order to extend its dominance in India’s infrastructure sector. In March, Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Ltd. paid Rs 3,604 crore to D.V.S. Raju and his family for a 58.1 percent share in Gangavaram Port Ltd, gaining majority control of the private port in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It had already obtained a 31.5 percent stake.
The group acquired control of the Mumbai international airport from the GVK company in September, as well as a majority interest in the planned Navi Mumbai International Airport. Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Mangaluru, Jaipur, Thiruvananthapuram, and Guwahati airports were recently privatised, and it was awarded 50-year operating rights.
In contrast, Zhong Shanshan, China’s bottled water king, has shed $14.6 billion from his fortune so far this year. At the end of December 2020, he had dethroned Mukesh Ambani as Asia’s richest man, and by early 2021, he had surpassed Warren Buffett as the world’s sixth richest person. Investors rushed to consumer shares, and Zhong’s vaccine firm, Nongfu Spring Co., more than tripled from its initial public offering to a high in January. The stock of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise Co. increased by 3,757 percent.
Zhong, of China, was the wealthiest Asian until February, when he was dethroned by Mukesh Ambani, India’s wealthiest person and head of Reliance Industries Ltd. While Ambani lost $175.5 million in the year and, Adani’s wealth increased by $32.7 billion to $66.5 billion, compared to $63.6 billion for Zhong.
