Adani surpasses LVMH co-founder, becomes world's third-richest with $137.4B fortune
What's the story
Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of Adani Group, has become the world's third-richest person, with a fortune of $137.4B, as per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He has superseded French magnate and luxury brand LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton co-founder-CEO Bernard Arnault. He now trails behind the world's richest person Elon Musk, whose current net worth is $251.4B, followed by Jeff Bezos at $153.4B.
Context
Why does this story matter?
Notably, Adani is the first-ever Asian to make it to the top three on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. While his fortune has soared, market experts recently highlighted the conglomerate is "over-leveraged" with a dismal debt-to-equity ratio. India's biggest private coal miner and port operator, Adani Group, has also garnered criticism for alleged land grabbing and has ongoing legal cases for misappropriation of public resources.
Billionaires' list
Adani stepped up the ladder as others step up philanthropy
Last month, Adani surpassed Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as the fourth-richest person with $113B net worth. Interestingly, his position on the Bloomberg list went up as others on it increased their philanthropy. Gates transferred $20B to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in July, while legendary investor Warren Buffett donated over $35B to charity. Gates now sits fifth on the list, followed by Buffett.
Home-turf rivalry
Adani too pledged $7.7 billion for social causes
Adani overtook Mukesh Ambani as the richest Asian in February this year and first crossed the $100B net worth mark in April. In 2022 alone, his fortune grew by $60.9B, which is five times more than any other billionaire. To mark his 60th birthday in June this year, he, too, pledged $7.7B for social causes. However, he hasn't furnished any details regarding the same.
Stronghold
Country's biggest private coal miner and port operator
Adani initially started his career by trying his hand at diamond trade and later turned to coal. In the last few years, his coal-to-ports conglomerate ventured into cement, data centers, alumina, and is now foraying into media—set to acquire a 29% stake in NDTV. Alongside being the biggest private coal miner, airport operator, and city gas distributor, Adani Group owns the biggest private port.
New avenues
Plans to become world's biggest renewable energy producer
In November 2021, Adani Group announced it plans to become the world's biggest renewable energy producer, pledging to pump $70B into green energy. However, Adani Green Energy has a 2,021% debt-to-equity ratio, the second-worst in Asia after China's Datang Huayin Electric Power's 2,452%, Bloomberg reported recently. But some of the group's shares reportedly jumped over 1,000% since 2020, with valuations touching 750 times earnings.
Concerns
'Non-transparent shareholder structures'
Adani Group's binge acquisitions are primarily funded by debt and the empire is "deeply over-leveraged" said Fitch group unit CreditSights in a report this month. Lawmakers and market experts have also voiced concerns regarding the non-transparent shareholder structures and the absence of analyst coverage at the conglomerate. Moreover, its Carmichael mine in Australia has also drawn flak from environmentalists.