Gautam Adani, the chief of the infrastructure-to-renewable energy conglomerate and the second-richest Indian, is now the second-richest Asian too, behind Reliance Group’s Mukesh Ambani. Last week, Adani went past Zhong Shanshan, the head of a China-based beverages-to-pharma conglomerate. Globally, Ambani is the 13th richest, while Adani is at the 14th place.
As of Thursday last, Adani’s total net worth was $66.5 billion compared to Zhong Shanshan’s $63.6 billion and Ambani’s $76.5 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Adani’s wealth has surged by $32.7 billion this year, while Ambani has lost $175.5 million, a report by Bloomberg said.
Adani’s meteoric rise in fortunes happened in the last one year since May 2020, as the stock price of each of the group’s six listed companies have galloped northward, BSE data showed. From about $20 billion at the start of May last year, the Adani Group’s aggregate market capitalisation is now nearly $115 billion - a rise of nearly six times. In comparison, the Reliance Group’s aggregate market cap has moved up from nearly $125 billion to a little over $178 billion now.
In the last one year, the stock of Adani Total Gas has rallied 1,145%, the most among all the six group companies. In addition, Adani Enterprises has jumped 827%, Adani Transmission 617%, Adani Green Energy 433% and Adani Power189%. The least of the gains was recorded in Adani Power stock that has rallied 142%. Over this one year, the group, which has also been mired in a huge controversy because of a large buyout of a coal mine in Queensland in Australia, has signed a large number of deals in India.
