Gautam Adani beats Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk to Biggest Wealth Surge this year

Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani, the chairman and founder of the Adani Group, has added more billions to his wealth than anyone else in the world this year with the help of investor excitement ports-to-power plants conglomerate.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur who rarely speaks publicly, has seen a jump of $16.2 billion in his net-worth in 2021 to an overall $50 billion. This huge add-on to his wealth has made him the year’s biggest wealth gainer, beating even Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has tussled in 2021 for the title of world’s richest. Shares of almost all Adani group stocks rallying to at least 50% this year have been integral.

The $8.1 billion added by Adani’s compatriot and the richest person in Asia, Mukesh Ambani, is dwarfed by Adani’s surge in wealth. It also underscores the rising heft of the self-made billionaire, who has lured investment from Oil and gas company Total SA to American private equity firm Warburg Pincus. Ports, airports, data centers, and coal mines in India are being rapidly added by Adani to his conglomerate while doggedly proceeding with his controversial Carmichael coal project in Australia.

“Adani has been consistently expanding its business in areas that are resilient to market cycles,” said Sunil Chandiramani, founder and chief executive officer at Nyka Advisory Services, according to LiveMint. “Now with the entry in data centers business, the group has also indicated its appetite for venturing into technology.”

Last month, Adani Enterprises Ltd. signed a pact to develop 1 gigawatt of data center capacity in India.

Adani Total Gas Ltd. has seen a rise of 96% this year, while Adani Enterprises’ flagship is up 90%. Adani Transmission Ltd. has advanced 79%. Adani Power Ltd. and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones Ltd. have gained more than 52% this year. Adani Green Energy Ltd., which is the only group stock not seeing a 50%+ rise, after rising over 500% last year, is up 12%.

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