Billionaire Gautam Adani has once again surpassed Reliance Industries head Mukesh Ambani to become the richest person in Asia after a surge in stock price of the listed companies in his conglomerate, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
As per the index, Adani is now ranked as the 11th richest in the world with a net worth of $111 billion, whereas the Reliance Industries chairperson has been ranked at 12th position with a net worth of $109 billion.
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The shares of all Adani Group companies surged on Friday by up to 14%. Further, an addition of ₹84,064 crore in market value took the market capitalisation of 10 Adani group listed firms to ₹17.51 lakh crore at the close of trading on Friday.
Earlier in 2022, Adani had become Asia’s richest man after his personal wealth rose even as the global economy suffered a period of slowing growth. But in January 2023, his sprawling conglomerate was hit after a report by prominent short-seller Hindenburg Research.
The report claimed that Adani’s business empire was built through fraud, sending stock prices of his group crashing by $150 billion at its lowest point and him out of the world’s top 20 billionaires. However, Adani denied all allegations and worked on a comeback strategy that included containing debt, reducing founder share pledge and consolidating business in core competencies.
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So far in 2024, Adani’s net worth has jumped $26.8 billion while Ambani’s wealth has increased by $12.7 billion, according to Bloomberg Index.
The 61-year-old billionaire began his career in the diamond industry. He formed his own company in 1988, which began as an import-export operation in the commodities sector and gradually expanded to other initiatives.
His wealth expanded in the last decade, rising from around $5 billion in 2014 to a whopping $121 billion at the end of 2022. He briefly became the world’s second-richest person in September 2022.
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Last week, Adani in the annual reports of the group companies had expressed his optimism about the future of the group saying that its best days are ahead. “The road ahead is paved with extraordinary possibilities, and I can promise you that the Adani Group today is stronger than it has ever been.”
(With inputs from PTI)