Indian billionaire, Gautam Adani is closing the gap on his American counterpart Elon Musk, to become the world’s richest man.
At the close of business on Friday, September 16, 2022, Adani became the second richest man in the world, hinging towards Musk, after displacing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos on the rich list.
It would be recalled that Adani, who founded Adani Enterprises 34 years ago, had surpassed the Chairman of LVMH Moët Hennessy, Bernard Arnault, and American business magnate, Bill Gates last month (August).
Having surpassed Arnault and Gates, the Indian man was only left with Bezos and Musk standing on his way on topping the ladder of the richest man in the world.
However, with Bezos losing $2.74 billion of his wealth at the close of trading on Friday, which consequently dragged his wealth down to $147 billion, Adani who started the year at number 14 on the Bloomberg index, had his net worth estimated at $149.12 billion during the trading.
BizWatch Nigeria understands that with Musk losing $6.44 billion year-to-date and Adani realising $70.3 billion in the last nine months, the Indian billionaire may be challenging the world’s richest man for the top spot in the coming months.
What you should know about Gautam Adani, the Indian billionaire
- Adani, 60, made his fortune in ports and commodities trading and now operates India’s second-largest conglomerate with interests ranging from coal mining and edible oils to airports and news media.
- His ballooning net worth reflects a stratospheric rise in the market capitalisation of his publicly listed companies, as investors back the Adani Group’s aggressive expansion of old and new businesses.
- Shares in the flagship Adani Enterprises — of which the billionaire owns 75 percent — have soared more than 2,700 percent since March 2020, and doubled in value in the past six months.