Gautam Adani overtakes Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest person
New Delhi, Apr 17: Tycoon Gautam Adani has overtaken fellow Gujarat business czar Mukesh Ambani to become Asia’s richest person, as a sustained rally in shares of his ports-to-energy conglomerate lifted his net worth.
With a net worth of USD 92.6 billion, Adani surpassed Ambani, whose fortune stands at USD 90.8 billion, to become the richest person in India and Asia, according to the latest billionaire rankings.
Adani, founder of his eponymous group, oversees India’s largest private seaport network, is the country’s biggest renewable energy producer and private airport operator, and ranks among the world’s largest coal traders.
He is currently ranked No. 19 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which tracks the world’s 500 richest individuals and is updated daily.
Adani’s wealth is largely derived from his shareholdings across the group’s 10 listed companies. The recent surge in Adani Group stocks has added billions of dollars in market value, highlighting strong investor appetite for businesses linked to India’s economic growth and energy transition.
In contrast, Ambani’s wealth, anchored by Reliance Industries with interests in energy, telecom and retail, has seen comparatively modest gains, leading to a reshuffle in the region’s billionaire rankings.
At the top of the global wealth list is Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla — the world’s most valuable carmaker — and rocket manufacturer SpaceX. His net worth of $656 billion is more than double that of his closest rival Larry Page. Page, co-founder of Alphabet, the holding company of Google, is worth $286 billion.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is ranked third with a net worth of $269 billion. Adani and Ambani are the only Indians in the top 50.
Ambani had remained India’s richest person for more than a decade before Adani’s sharp rise in company stock prices first propelled him to the top spot in February 2022.
However, Adani Group shares tumbled after a damaging report by US short seller Hindenburg Research, wiping out nearly $100 billion in market value at the lowest point. That setback enabled Ambani to regain the top position.
Adani again overtook Ambani in mid-2024, aided by a rally in Adani stocks driven by infrastructure expansion and the energy transition narrative. Ambani reclaimed the top slot in mid-2025 before losing it again this month.
The Adani Group has built a diversified portfolio spanning transport and logistics, integrated energy infrastructure across generation, transmission and distribution, along with interests in natural resources, airports, defence and aerospace, data centres, cement, media, roads, rail and metro networks, real estate, urban redevelopment, food and FMCG, digital platforms and business incubation.
According to the group, Gautam Adani is India’s first first-generation entrepreneur to lead a business empire to a market capitalisation exceeding $200 billion. (PTI)
