Indian billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani has added more billions to his wealth than anyone else in the world this year thanks to investor excitement around his ports-to-power plants conglomerate.
The net worth of Mr. Adani, a first-generation entrepreneur who rarely speaks publicly, has jumped $16.2 billion in 2021 to $50 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
This has made him the year’s biggest wealth gainer, beating even Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and owner of American electric carmaker Elon Musk, who have battled in 2021 for the title of world’s richest. Shares of all Adani group stocks, except one, have spiked at least 50 percent this year.
The surge in wealth dwarfs the $8.1 billion added by another billionaire from the country and also the richest person in Asia, Mukesh Ambani. Mr. Adani has been rapidly expanding his conglomerate, adding ports, airports, data centers and coal mines in India, 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 experts. “Now with the entry in data centers business, the group has also indicated its appetite for venturing into technology.”
Adani Enterprises signed a pact last month to develop 1 gigawatt of data center capacity in India.
Adani Total Gas has jumped 96 percent this year while the flagship Adani Enterprises has advanced 90 percent. Adani Transmission is up 79 percent. Adani Power and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones have gained more than 52 percent this year. Adani Green Energy, after rising over 500 percent last year, is up 12 percent so far.
