India's Adani briefly listed as world's second-richest person / Photo: SAM PANTHAKY - AFP/File
-
Pretty in pink: Dallas World Cup venue chasing perfect pitch
-
Wordle heads to primetime as media seek puzzle reinvention
-
Eurovision: the grand final running order
-
McIlroy, back in PGA hunt, blames bad setup for lead logjam
-
Kubo vows to lead Japan at World Cup with Mitoma out
-
McNealy and Smalley share PGA lead at difficult Aronimink
-
Drake drops three albums at once
-
Boeing confirms China commitment to buy 200 aircraft
-
Knicks forward Anunoby trains as NBA Eastern Conference finals loom
-
American McNealy grabs PGA lead at difficult Aronimink
-
Substitute 'keeper sends Saint-Etienne into promotion play-off
-
Sinner's bid to reach Italian Open final held up by Roman rain
-
Aston Villa humble Liverpool to secure Champions League qualification
-
US says Iran-backed militia commander planned Jewish site attacks
-
Bolivia unrest continues despite government deal with miners
-
Scheffler slams 'absurd' PGA pin locations
-
New deadly Ebola outbreak hits DR Congo, 1 dead in Uganda
-
Democrats accuse Trump of stock trade corruption
-
'Beyond the Oscar': Travolta gets surprise Cannes prize
-
Israel, Lebanon say extending ceasefire despite new strikes
-
Potgieter grabs early PGA lead at difficult Aronimink
-
Prosecutors seek death penalty for US man charged with killing Israeli embassy staffers
-
Judge declares mistrial in Weinstein sex assault case
-
Canada takes key step towards new oil pipeline
-
Iranian filmmaker Farhadi condemns Middle East war, protest massacres
-
'Better than the Oscar': John Travolta gets surprise Cannes prize
-
Marsh muscle motors Lucknow to victory over Chennai
-
Judge declares mistrial in Weinstein case as jury fails to reach verdict
-
Eurovision finalists tune up as boycotting Spain digs in
-
Indonesia's first giant panda is set to charm the public
-
Cheer and tears as African refugee rap film 'Congo Boy' charms Cannes
-
Norwegian Ruud rolls into Italian Open final, Sinner set for Medvedev clash
-
Bolivia government says deal reached with protesting miners
-
Showdowns and spycraft on Trump-Xi summit sidelines
-
Smalley seizes PGA lead with Matsuyama making a charge
-
Acosta quickest in practice for Catalan MotoGP
-
Nuno wants VAR 'consistency' as West Ham fight to avoid relegation
-
Vingegaard powers to maiden Giro stage victory
-
Iran to hold pre-World Cup training camp in Turkey: media
-
US scraps deployment of 4,000 troops to Poland
-
Ukraine vows more strikes on Russia after attack on Kyiv kills 24
-
Bayern veteran Neuer signs one-year contract extension
-
Ukraine can down Russian drones en masse. But missiles are a problem
-
Israeli strikes wound dozens in Lebanon as talks in US enter second day
-
'Everybody wants Hearts to win', says Celtic's O'Neill ahead of title decider
-
Scheffler stumbles from share of lead at windy PGA
-
New deadly Ebola outbreak hits DR Congo
-
Farke calls for Leeds owners to match his ambition
-
Zverev pulls out of home event in Hamburg with back injury
-
Xi, Trump eke small wins from talks but no major deals: analysts
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
