Gautam Adani becomes Asia’s richest person, wealth crosses $89 billion: Forbes!

Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani’s wealth rose to $89.2 billion, making him the richest person in Asia. This information was given in Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List.

After Adani, Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani is at second place with $88 billion and SoftBank’s Masayoshi Son is at third place with $87 billion.

Son was Asia’s richest man before shares in the Japanese investment firm tumbled on Thursday. The main source of Gautam Adani’s wealth is his stake in Adani Group companies.

The combined market value of six Adani Group companies was approximately $191 billion as of Friday. In this, Adani Power was on top with a valuation of $ 47.2 billion. After this, the valuation of Adani Ports was $ 44.2 billion, the valuation of Adani Enterprises was $ 44 billion, the market cap of Adani Green Energy was $ 26.4 billion, the valuation of Adani Energy Solutions was $ 19.9 billion and the market cap of Adani Total Gas was $ 8.8 billion.

According to a Forbes report, Gautam Adani’s wealth has increased by nearly $10 billion since the US Justice Department last month dismissed fraud charges against the Adani Group. The allegations were related to the group’s involvement in a $250 million transaction involving solar power supply contracts. However, Adani Group had denied these claims.

His return as Asia’s richest man follows a decline in the valuations of his companies in recent years, prompted by a series of allegations. US short-seller Hindenburg Research in 2023 had accused Adani of stock manipulation and widespread fraud. However, Indian regulators rejected these claims last year, saying the allegations were “not proven”. He also faced charges in America, which have now ended.

The billionaire industrialist said in his annual letter to shareholders last month that Adani Group has overcome US legal challenges and is increasing investments in energy, transportation, logistics and digital infrastructure, making it poised to benefit from growing demand for AI-based development.

He attributed the success of the recent Rs 24,930 crore rights issue of the group’s flagship company, Adani Enterprises, to investor confidence. This came at a time when the group was facing questions on governance and regulatory issues.