India's Adani briefly listed as world's second-richest person / Photo: SAM PANTHAKY - AFP/File
-
Boland grabs opportunity for Australia as South Africa struggle in second Test
-
Ronaldo handed 30-day suspension after walking out on Portugal
-
Ronaldo handed 30-day suspension: Portuguese federation
-
Netanyahu basks in Trump endorsement week before election
-
France announces curfews as government grapples with unrest
-
Saudi airport closure disrupts life in kingdom's capital
-
Boland sets pace as South Africa struggle
-
Ramaphosa tells South Africa to prepare for loss of US-Africa trade deal
-
Ukraine on back foot as Kremlin moots US, China meeting
-
France presses resale platforms to remove 'stolen' goods after unrest
-
'Stay home!': Tourists find themselves in a France convulsed by protests
-
Yamal v PSG: Ballon d'Or backdrop to Champions League showdown
-
Kenyan cult leader guilty on all charges over 191 starvation deaths
-
Araujo says too soon to talk about permanent Liverpool move
-
Eagles star Hurts to miss rest of NFL season: reports
-
US wants to be 'strong partner' for central Asia: Rubio
-
Oil-rich Alberta votes on Canada breakup
-
'Special' to face friend Perez in Champions League, says Liverpool's Iraola
-
Israel announces arrests after West Bank settler attacks on Westerners
-
Monitor says Indonesia fires have burned nearly two million hectares
-
Guehi insists players have 'trust and belief' in Man City after charges
-
French PM says could declare state of emergency over unrest 'if needed'
-
UN climate panel head wants swift end to deadlock over key scientific report
-
Albanian PM warns of 'red line' after days of unrest
-
PM calls for curfews in France as govt grapples with unrest
-
Putin, Xi and Trump could meet at APEC summit: Kremlin
-
Man City's Semenyo out for up to eight weeks
-
Microsoft exits data centre deal in blow to UK AI ambitions
-
Australian lawmaker critically hurt in 'violent' vehicle attack
-
European stocks retreat as France violence spreads
-
England women's coach Wiegman signs two-year contract extension
-
North Korea warns 'grave situation' prevailing along border
-
Louvre blocked as France grapples with unrest
-
Raya proud of Arsenal's 'incredible' reaction after third straight win
-
Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff shot at in Mumbai, three suspects held: police
-
Indonesia fires have burned nearly two million hectares: monitor
-
UN biodiversity summit opens with nature goals off track
-
Australian lawmaker 'critically' hurt in attack, officials say
-
'Physical hell': Hong Kong hosts gruelling underwater hockey tournament
-
Indonesia fires burned over 1.9 mn hectares through September: monitor
-
Police 'lost control' during French protests, says interior minister
-
Asian tech stocks mixed after Wall St losses, eyes on earnings
-
Australia's new Ghost Shark submarines grow some 'teeth'
-
China's third-quarter growth narrowly beats forecasts
-
'I call it a bribe': Pennsylvania residents spurn $10,000 data center checks
-
Asian stocks start week on back foot, tracking tech-led Wall St losses
-
In a former US steel city, ordinary people struggle to get by
-
China growth narrowly beats forecasts
-
'Liar,' 'clown': Lula and Bolsonaro spar in Brazil poll debate
-
Faith and fury: Texas Senate rivals offer contrasting visions
India's Adani briefly listed as world's second-richest person
Indian industrialist Gautam Adani briefly became the world's second-richest person on the Forbes real-time billionaire tracker on Friday, weeks after becoming the first Asian to break into the top three.
The self-made billionaire's net worth surged $4 billion overnight to $154 billion, according to Forbes, ranking him ahead of LVMH's Bernard Arnault and Amazon's Jeff Bezos.
Tesla founder Elon Musk remained well out in front with a fortune of more than $270 billion.
Arnault -- who at times held the top spot in May 2021 -- and Adani traded the number two position during the day as the share prices of their companies fluctuated.
Adani, 60, made his fortune in ports and commodities trading and now operates India's second-largest conglomerate with interests ranging from coal mining and edible oils to airports and news media.
His ballooning net worth reflects a stratospheric rise in the market capitalisation of his publicly listed companies, as investors back the Adani Group's aggressive expansion of old and new businesses.
Shares in the flagship Adani Enterprises -- of which the billionaire owns 75 percent -- have soared more than 2,700 percent since March 2020, and doubled in value in the past six months.
Stock price surges in other group companies including Adani Transmission, Adani Power, Adani Ports and Adani Green Energy catapulted Adani past fellow Indian billionaire Mukesh Ambani this year.
Analyst estimates indicated the market capitalisation of Adani's seven listed companies also briefly overtook those of the Tata group on Friday morning, making the Adani Group India's largest conglomerate.
Born in the city of Ahmedabad in the western state of Gujarat to a middle-class family, Adani dropped out of college to work in the diamond industry before starting his export business in 1988.
In 1995, he won a contract to build and operate a commercial shipping port at Mundra in Gujarat, which has since grown to become India's largest port.
At the same time, Adani expanded into thermal power generation and coal mining in India and overseas.
In recent years, the conglomerate has forayed into petrochemicals, cement, data centres and copper refining, in addition to establishing a renewable energy business with ambitious targets.
Recent investments in Indian news media and a bid for 5G airwaves this year have raised speculation that the billionaire's empire could soon impinge on sectors dominated by Ambani's Reliance Industries.
But Adani's rapid expansion into capital-intensive businesses has also raised financial alarms, with Fitch Group's CreditSights last week reiterating that they "remain concerned over the Adani Group's leverage".
H.E.Young--AMWN
