Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani is now the fourth richest person in the world, tying with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates.
The Gujarat-based tycoon’s wealth surged about $48 billion this year, making him the biggest gainer year-to-date, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
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Adani’s fortune soared to $125 billion on April 27, on par with Gates’ net worth, the Bloomberg ranking shows.
This makes the Indian billionaire about $5 billion wealthier than Berkshire Hathaway founder Warren Buffett.
Just a few days ago, Adani moved to 5th position in the rich list, overtaking globally revered wealth manager Warren Buffett who is now worth $121.7 billion.
The shares of Adani Enterprises and Adani Green Energy have been climbing over the last few days after they announced plans to raise money. Adani Enterprises has moved up meteorically in just six days from Rs 2,190 on April 20 to Rs 2,394 on April 26. Adani Green Energy has climbed from Rs 1,923.30 one month ago to Rs 2,976.
Similarly, another group company. Adani Wilmar, has also been shooting up from and now has a market cap of Rs 1.04 lakh crore. The company listed on February 8 at Rs 268 and has soared in less than three months to Rs 803.
Adani Wilmar has been propelled upwards because of soaring edible oil prices on the back of the Russia-Ukraine war (the two countries are key producers) and Malaysia and Indonesia’s ban on exports. India imports palm oil from both countries. Adani Wilmar is believed to be well-placed because it maintains a buffer stock of raw material. Adani Power was at Rs 242.20 on April 20 and was up by Rs 43.45 at Rs 285.65 on April 26.
Adani has always been close to the current government and he is now the country’s largest port and airport owner. In 2020, he took control of Mumbai airport and later bought six airports – Jaipur, Ahmadabad, Lucknow, Thiruvananthapuram, Mangaluru and Guwahati being privatised by the government.
