REUTERS/Amit Dave
Indian industrialist Gautam Adani's wealth has just swollen past $100 billion, making him one of only 11 centibillionaires on the planet.
Adani was worth around $10 billion in June 2020, after which his wealth began to soar, data from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index shows. He's already added $28 billion so far in 2022, and breached the $100 billion threshold on Friday, per Bloomberg's index. He was last worth $105 billion.
Adani is founder and chairman of the Adani Group, a multinational conglomerate with businesses spanning energy, mining, port management, and airport operations. Among other things, Adani Group owns India's largest commercial port and has a 74% stake in Mumbai's international airport.
Adani was born in Ahmedabad, in the Indian state of Gujarat, in 1962. He dropped out of Gujarat University after his second year studying commerce, according to Silicon India. He then turned to the diamond industry, first as a sorter and then as a trader in Mumbai, the publication reported.
After his brother purchased a plastic company, Adani joined him in the management of the business and started importing PVC, per Bloomberg. In 1988, Adani set up Adani Enterprises.
Adani said he and a companion were kidnapped in 1998 after a group of men held them at gunpoint. A police report said the kidnappers demanded a $2 million ransom and released the pair after the ransom was paid, per The Indian Express. Eight people accused of the kidnapping were ultimately acquitted, Times Now India reported.
Adani was dining at the Taj Mahal Hotel during the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks. He told India Today that from his table, he could see militants entering the hotel. He said he hid in the hotel's basement before moving to a hallway high up in the building.
The Adani Group is made up of six publicly-traded companies. It says it has a market capitalization of more than $190 billion and over 23,000 staff.
Adani is an executive director of Adani Enterprises and Adani Port and Special Economic Zone, and a non-executive director of Adani Power, Adani Transmissions, Adani Total Gas, and Adani Green Energy.
Most of Adani's wealth is derived from the big shareholdings he has in his companies. According to Bloomberg, he holds 75% stakes in each of Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Transmissions.
Only nine other people are listed on Bloomberg's index as being wealthier than Adani. The richest is Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, worth around $288 billion. He's followed by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and LVMH boss Bernard Arnault.
Adani is the richest Indian on the list, ahead of Mukesh Ambani, whose wealth Bloomberg put at around $100 billion. Ambani is the largest shareholder of Reliance Industries, a multinational conglomerate.
