New Delhi, April 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. A recent surge in Adani Group stocks has added billions of dollars in market value, underscoring strong investor appetite for assets linked to India’s economic expansion and energy transition.
By contrast, Ambani’s wealth, anchored by his flagship conglomerate Reliance Industries that spans energy, telecom and retail, has seen comparatively modest gains, reshuffling the region’s billionaire rankings.
Topping the billionaire ranking is Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla – the worl’d most valuable carmaker – and rocket manufacturer SpaceX. His networth of USD 656 billion is more than double of his closest rival, Larry Page. Page, co-founder of Alphabet, the holding company for Google, is worth USD 286 billion.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, is ranked at No.3 with a net worth of USD 269 billion.
Adani and Ambani are the only Indians in the top 50.
Ambani had consistently been India’s richest for over a decade before Adani’s eye popping gains in company stock prices catapulted him to the top spot in February 2022.
However, his group’s stock tumbled in the aftermath of a damning report by a US short seller Hindenburg that led to Adani group losing USD 100 billion in market value at lowest point. This led to Ambani making a comeback at the top.
In mid-2024, Adani again overtook Ambani. This is largely because of Adani stocks surging due to infrastucture expansion and the energy transition narrative. Ambani again overtook 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, as well as 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 USD 200 billion.–(PTI)
